Florida employers have raised wages and are urging more investment in technological innovations that boost wage growth after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a set of state-wide immigration reforms.

Jeannie Econos, manager of the Farmworker Association of Florida which opposes this law, stated that “some of them” have increased wages due to a shortage of workers.

She told Breitbart News that the farm companies also “say ‘More funding for research into mechanization. We need more mechanization. We can’t afford to pay the cost of labour'”.

USA Today reported that Desantis’s immigration reforms – especially his law requiring companies to use E-Verify – are also driving up wages in construction, according to the report.

Valdez, the owner of a Naples-based construction company and a Mexican himself, stayed at home to show solidarity with Hispanic employees who were boycotting Florida’s new immigration laws.

Valdez lost 15 of its best [illegal migrants] workers since DeSantis’s immigration bill was signed. They have now moved to other states, such as Illinois and North Carolina.

He used to pay painters between $18 and $20 an hour. He now pays $30-$35 per hour, increasing his costs. “I must adapt,” he said.

Florida’s establishment, which is bipartisan, has imported millions low-wage migrants who are hardworking and uncomplaining to help its farmers, landlords and retail investors.

Union-Bulletin.com published a report on June 22, “Norma and her daughter arrived in Guatemala only five months ago… as many workers do from Guatemala and Mexico.” “When Norma first arrived in Homestead, she saw a sign by the side of the highway offering work. She got the job, even though she didn’t have papers.

The state’s investors, landlords, and employers have become wealthy as a result of the massive illegal immigrant population.

DeSantis’ pro-American immigration laws have shattered this elite consensus, and his law requiring employers with over 25 employees to confirm legal status of job candidates via the E-Verify federal system has also been a major blow. New laws are forcing many illegal immigrants to leave the state and opening up economic opportunities for Americans.

Winknews.com reported that “Irma, a Florida-based construction company owner, has seen her staff numbers dwindle.” “We had 45 workers. Bautista stated that they now have 20 workers instead of 45.

Union-Bulletin.com reported:

Carina is concerned about her children. She refused to give her last name for fear of being deported. She plans to return home to Guatemala in the coming weeks with her three children aged 19, 13 and 9, after living there for 20 years. She had been considering returning home for some time, but the new law gave her the final push to do so.

While business groups are trying to find loopholes, their progressive pro-migration allies are preparing lawsuits in order to retain the huge number of illegal workers.

Economos reported that the farm companies also demand wage reductions in the H-2A federal government program. The program imports seasonal agricultural workers. The GOP has quietly halted a Democratic plan to cut wages for H-2A foreign employees.

Many farms prefer to use cheap, disposable workers instead of crop-picking machinery made in the United States.

Many media outlets of the establishment promote their cheap-labor priority.

The headline of USA Today on June 21 read: “New immigration laws spark fear and workers exodus from Florida.”

Vox.com reported that “Florida’s new immigration laws preview a DeSantis presidential presidency: the law which takes effect this weekend already has sparked fears — and could have human and financial consequences.”

Economos said that the farmworkers group also shares the same views as business. She told Breitbart that “it is rare for labor and business to be on the same page, but I believe we have some ground in common on this issue.”

She added, “We were surprised by the fact that [GOP] legislators passed this [E Verify law] as they are so dedicated to business. We didn’t expect them to pass anything that would hurt business.”

Economos’ group – and other pro migration groups – are working with some Republicans and companies to convince workers to remain in Florida. They do this by organizing illegal immigrants to protest loudly against wage-boosting reforms.

DeSantis’s immigration reform highlights the GOP divide between swing voters who are more concerned with their wallets and business-funded donors, who want to win elections by focusing on “culture war” topics. Jeff Roe is a top adviser to DeSantis who spoke on Axios.com, an establishment-backed publication, on June 5, saying:

Jeff Roe is a top advisor to Never Back Down. The super PAC that supports DeSantis. He told Axios: “The fight for soul of the Party isn’t a battle over tax cuts or trade agreements.” It is this cultural battle that we as a nation have.

He said: “These people are aware that DeSantis has been a culture fighter for this period.” “These voters are even more angry than in 2016.”

DeSantis’s spokesman highlights DeSantis’s support for legal immigration. Despite widespread attempts by establishment media to refer to illegal migrants as “immigrants”.

Jeremy Redfern is DeSantis’s press secretary. He said, “The media have been deliberately inaccurate in their distinction between legal immigration and illegal immigration. This has created this exact type of outrage based upon a false premise.” He added that “any business that exploits the [border] crisis and hires illegal aliens in place of Floridians, will be held responsible.”

Mark Krikorian is the director of Center for Immigration Studies. He said: “You cannot address immigration as only a cultural war issue – the economic aspect is integral.” He added:

He’s clearly committed to E-Verify. He has made two major pushes in the state legislative and gotten a good bill that went into effect on July 1. His campaign literature has addressed E-Verify in a vaguer way. This is just speculation but I wonder if the political-operative types have been more hesitant about it than the Governor himself.

DeSantis has consistently mixed national economics with voters’ concerns about their wallets into his immigration program, by, for example, threatening Mexico with tariffs if it doesn’t help to manage the border.

Tariffs are a powerful tool to use to bring Mexico to the table on important issues like migration and fentanyl. You can’t separate “culture” from economic issues.