3 Lester Hinds/Gleaner Writer JAMAICAN COMMUNITY leaders in Florida are raising the alarm about an immigration bill that was passed in the Sunshine State last Friday, pointing out that it will have a “chilling”effect on immigrants, legal and non-legal alike. Democrats have argued that the bill could lead to racial profiling, arguing that immigration laws are the purview of the federal government, not the state. But Republican supporters say it is aimed at forcing the federal government to address an “invasion” of migrants into the country. The bill, which includes a number of provisions requested by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, bars Florida local governments from spending taxpayer dollars on identification cards for people who cannot provide proof of citizenship. It also invalidates a driver’s licence issued by another state to someone who cannot prove their citizenship; requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to include a question on intake forms about the patient’s citizenship status; removes a provision previously signed into law by former Governor Rick Scott that allows undocumented law school graduates admission to The Florida Bar; increases penalties for human trafficking-related offences; and requires anyone in the custody of law enforcement who is subject to a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement immigration retainer to submit a DNA sample to a statewide database. The bill also prohibits counties and municipalities from providing funds to any person, entity, or organisation to issue identification documents to an individual who does not provide proof of lawful presence in the United States. The bill also increases sanctions against businesses that hire undocumented immigrants, allow state law-enforcement officials to conduct random audits of businesses’ compliance with the law, and increase penalties for human smuggling. It also increases the maximum fine for a first violation of specified provisions relating to employing, hiring, recruiting, or referring undocumented immigrants for private or public employment. One of the bill’s more contentious provisions is to require businesses with 25 or more workers to use the federal E-Verify system to check the immigration status of employees. ATMOSPHERE OF FEAR Jamaican immigration attorney Michelle Fanger, who is based in Jacksonville, said the measure will drive people underground and create an atmosphere of fear. “As proposed, you cannot harbour anyone who is out of status and you will be subjected to fine and possible deportation,”she told The Gleaner last week ahead of its passing. She noted that it would also prevent undocumented immigrants from seeking medical treatment. “It means that we will have many sick people unable to seek medical help, and this could result in outbreaks of diseases that could be easily treated,” said Fanger. She said that undocumented people already working would now fear going to work, noting that this could affect the state’s agricultural sector. Dale Holness, the Jamaica-born former mayor of Broward County, also decried the measure, saying that what it is aimed at doing is giving Republicans a chance to win elections. He told The Gleaner that the late George Wallace “tried the same tactics and it backfired, so I am at a loss to understand why the DeSantis government would be attempting this in this day and age”. He said that the measure will have a chilling effect on legal and illegal immigrants and drive people underground at a time when progress is being made to try and bring people out of the shadows. Holness noted that the measures will not only hurt immigrants, but the entire population. “They are being shortsighted, and I believe that it will be challenged in court and overturned,” he said. “What they are seeking to do is makemonsters out of immigrants and create a climate of fear among the white population.” He noted that community-based organisations in Florida, which issue certain IDs to seniors and people coming out of prison and are seeking to restore their identities, could find funding cut off under the bill. Corey Shearer, director of Florida’s Community Partnership Outreach, said that the measure is already having a chilling effect. “It is mean and isolationist. It is trying to play to the fears of the white section of the population and threatens the progress that is being made,” he told The Gleaner. Shearer, who is the son of the late Jamaica-born South Florida activist Jasmin Barnaby, said that community leaders must make people aware of such bills and push back against these types of measures. A similar bill for the House, which is almost identical to the one approved by the Senate, could be on the floor for a vote as soon as this week. If approved, it goes to DeSantis, and once he signs it, the lawwould become effective on July 1. editorial@gleanerjm.com Kimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter THE MAJORITY of women working on the seasonal farm work programme in Canada have poured scorn on Jamaican liaison officers there, asserting that the group mandated to ensure that they are treated fairly has been unethical and unresponsive to challenges they face. Fifty-two per cent of the 44 women surveyed during a fact-finding mission approved by the Jamaican Government said that they were dissatisfied with the Jamaica Liaison Service. The figure is just above that of their male counterparts, with 44 per cent of 396 surveyed indicating that they, too, were not satisfied. The findings were published in the fact-finding report tabled in the House of Representatives last Tuesday. The issues cited by workers included liaison officers not being easily accessible, responsive, or interactive. Workers also said that they were not ethical in their approach and did not ensure that issues they had were resolved. They noted, too, that liaison officers lacked compassion. Currently, there are only 13 liaison officers for the programme despite farms being far apart. Approximately 10,000 Jamaicans are part of the seasonal programme, which began in 1966, and are spread across 655 farms in 10 provinces. Three former female workers, who spoke to The Gleaner on condition of anonymity, one of whom is still “fighting” for medical treatment from her former employer, called liaison officers “sellouts” and claimed that their loyalty was to supervisors and employers. The women, who were in their 30s at the time they went on the programme roughly a decade ago, said that they were engaged in picking strawberries and apples. One woman told The Gleaner that she fell from a ladder while thinning apples, and suffered a brain and leg injury as a result. She noted that she has remained in the North American country four years later and is fighting to get assistance in accordance with her contract. “The liaison officers are not supposed to be there because they are not doing what they are put there to do,” she said. “It is unfair that CDN$75 is drawn out of your salary every fortnight to pay somebody who is standing in front of your employer telling them that if they have any issues, it’s because of where we come from,” she added. She alleged that after her injuries, a liaison officer submitted a report falsely indicating that she was well. The woman said that this has resulted in her being unable to get treatment. Additionally, she said that a request for the results of her medical done prior to her arriving in Canada, which she said would prove that she was healthy on arrival, was denied. “I was told to get off the phone and that I was bright and out of order and ‘renk’ and that I shouldn’t call back their phone … . These liaison officers have been doing a lot of damage to us as migrant farmworkers. They have been crushing us. They are not for us. They are for the employers,” she claimed. She said also that officers rarely responded to issues they were having, but noted, however, that they would report those who had complained to employers. “There was no confidentiality between you and the liaison. Basically, them sell out,” she charged. She rubbished the mission of the factfinding team, which travelled from Jamaica last September to investigate reports of abuse, calling it a “hoax”. “How will you get the facts by telling people that you are coming and getting them to polish up?” she questioned. She said “threatened” workers will not be honest about their treatment because they do not want to lose the opportunity to earn. KNEE INJURIES Another former worker said she was forced to pay out of pocket to treat a ligament injury to her knee because a liaison officer allegedly downplayed her injury. She told The Gleaner that she picked up the injury while kneeling to pick strawberries. “What I told [the officer] is not what was in the report,” the woman said. She said that as a result, her employer did not pay for her treatment because the report said that she was well. She was sent home at the end of the season, a month after she picked up the injury. The third woman alleged that she had to beg ‘SELLOUTS’ Florida legislature targets immigrants, allies J’CAN ACTIVISTS SOUND ALARM AS ... Dale Holness, the Jamaica-born former mayor of Broward County. FILE Jamaican farmworkers disembark a Government bus at the Norman Manley International airport. RICARDO MAKYN/MULTIMEDIA PHOTO EDITOR Former farmworkers lash liaison service, claim Canadian employers denied liability for injuries PLEASE SEE FARMER, P7 moya.thomas@gleanerjm.com Moya Thomas THE MONTHLY GLEANER | MAY 4 - JUNE 7, 2023 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUzNTI=