Last summer, our research team spoke with Lianna (a pseudonym), an immigrant woman who came close to being deported. She explained that now she moves around her community in Florida with caution and even avoids certain areas while driving. "My worst nightmare is being pulled over by the cops. I try very hard to avoid it."
Florida's Senate Bill 1718, signed into law in 2023, offers a stark preview of the far-reaching consequences that strict immigration policies will have on immigrants and broader communities. This law mandates the use of E-Verify for employers with over 25 employees, requires hospitals receiving Medicaid funds to collect immigration status information from patients, and bars local governments from funding community IDs, among other provisions.
As we are just coming to understand the effects of this law on immigrants and U.S. citizens in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has called for a special legislative session to establish how state and local law enforcement officials will assist Donald Trump with his plan for mass deportations.
Our recent study on the effects of Florida's new law provides a window into how state and federal collaborations on enforcement may shape future outcomes for immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. We found that the law's effects, including economic insecurity, psychological harm, and hesitation to seek health care, not only affected undocumented immigrants, but also documented immigrants and U.S. citizens.
Our research team surveyed 466 immigrants and U.S.-born adult children of immigrants in Florida. Over half of participants surveyed reported heightened psychological distress since the passage of the law. This distress was especially prominent among non-U.S. citizens, but also extended to U.S. citizens, with one-third reporting increased anxiety. Worries about detention, deportation, and family separation have profoundly disrupted daily lives, with many participants expressing fear even in routine activities like driving, as Lianna explained.
Immigrants' fears were compounded by the new law's provision requiring hospitals to ask about immigration status. Over half of our participants reported hesitation in seeking medical care. One participant shared how the law made her think twice about going to a hospital. "I was very sick recently and needed medical care, but I was scared to seek medical care because my visa expired." Public health risks arise when entire communities avoid essential services, creating potential ripple effects for all Floridians.
The law also created economic and job insecurity, with implications for Florida's economy. Industries like construction, agriculture, and hospitality—pillars of Florida's economy that heavily rely on undocumented labor—have already felt the shockwaves. Over half of respondents reported job insecurity, and more than 40 percent have considered leaving Florida due to the law. Notably, 46 percent of participants reported knowing immigrants who had already moved out of the state because of the law. The exodus of immigrant workers threatens economic stability, with recent analysis reporting that Florida's key industries employing undocumented workers could face annual losses of $12.6 billion.
If scaled nationally, such economic disruptions would be catastrophic. Mass deportations could reduce the U.S. GDP by 2.6 percent to as much as 6.2 percent according to some estimates, amounting to a staggering $1.7 trillion economic loss. Additionally, the fiscal cost of apprehending, processing and deporting millions of unauthorized residents is estimated at $114 billion to $303.7 billion, with ongoing enforcement adding an additional $315.7 billion over 20 years. Meanwhile the loss of $96.7 billion in taxes contributed annually by undocumented workers would strain federal, state, and local budgets.
One of the most alarming findings of our study is the spillover effect on U.S.-born adult children of immigrants. Many reported increased financial stress, anxiety, and even family separation due to the law. Similarly, the ripple effects of mass deportations would also devastate mixed-status households pushing nearly 10 million U.S. citizens into economic hardship. For these families, median household income would plummet from $75,500 to $39,000, nearly a 50 percent decline.
This highlights a critical flaw in policies like SB 1718 and potential national-level crackdowns—their impacts are not limited to immigrants. Mixed-status families will bear the brunt of enforcement efforts, deepening inequalities, and increasing suffering. As President Donald Trump attempts to make the country like Florida, he has even floated the idea of expelling not only undocumented immigrants, but their U.S. citizen kin too.
Florida's experience under SB 1718 foreshadows the national consequences of large-scale immigration crackdowns. The law's effects reveal how fear-driven policies undermine public health, fracture families, and destabilize local economies. Extending such measures federally will exacerbate these outcomes at a much larger scale, leaving a trail of human suffering and socio-economic instability that will affect all of us.
To read the full report, click here.
Elizabeth Aranda is professor of sociology and director of the Im/migrant Well-Being Research Center at the University of South Florida. She is co-leader of the Florida chapter of the Scholars Strategy Network and co-founder of the Im/migrant Well-Being Scholar Collaborative.
Liz Ventura Molina is a research associate at the Im/migrant Well-Being Research Center at the University of South Florida.
The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
English (US) ·