Protests erupt in Florida after anti-immigrant law goes into effect

Under the law, Florida no longer recognizes driver’s licenses issued to undocumented immigrants from other states.

Protests against Florida bill SB 1718 have erupted across the state after the bill went into effect on Saturday. Under the law, Florida no longer recognizes driver’s licenses issued to undocumented immigrants from other states, and criminalizes the transportation of undocumented workers.

Since Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed the bill into law in May, Latinx activists have organized labor strikes, boycotts, cross-country caravans and marches to protest Florida’s anti-immigrant policies.

“We are fed up because despite our work, despite how we produce this country’s wealth, and because we pay taxes […] instead of gaining more rights we are losing rights,” Juan Jose Gutierrez, a California activist who is part of a pro-migrant caravan traveling to Florida to protest the law, told BorderReport. “Like my mother would say, ‘we are walking backwards like the crab.’”