February 3, 2025
Written by Mari Marks
An Open Letter to Governor DeSantis and the Florida Legislature
As I drove into work this morning, I couldn’t help but notice all the Florida license plates highlighting the Florida Orange. We are known for oranges, for generations farmers in Florida fought to protect their citrus farms and establish themselves as the leaders in citrus.
Who doesn’t remember the Florida orange juice commercials with an icy glass of juice and cinematic views of gorgeous trees as far as the eyes can see? These farms and the prevalence of the citrus industry were not just built on American agriculture and the hardworking farm owners, but that of the workers, the growers, the pickers.
Today those workers and many others are under attack.
Governor DeSantis’ press conference highlighting his battle against undocumented workers left out a few key facts. So let me help fill in the missing gaps.
The Florida economy depends on workers in the agriculture, service and hospitality sectors. The Migration Policy Institute reports that there is an estimated number of 455,000 undocumented immigrants working in Florida, who are currently employed.
What would happen if these workers suddenly disappeared out of our workforce? I’ll tell you. A state that prides themselves on tourism would be in serious jeopardy. These jobs are not being stolen by undocumented workers, they are holes being filled in our society, jobs most Americans would not dream of taking.
A favorite, old, and tired point you all like to make is that our American tax dollars are unfairly being taken to pay for the livelihoods of these refugees, asylees, migrant workers and undocumented workers. The new inconvenient truth is that they play a significant role in the success of this country.
I will break it down for you.
In 2022, 747,000 documented and undocumented immigrants paid an estimated $1.8 BILLION dollars in local and state taxes (American Immigration Council). These households contribute over $27 BILLION to consumer spending.
Human beings who are shopping in your stores, eating in your restaurants, renting houses from you, buying cars, buying gas, paying out of pocket for medical appointments, braces for their children, attending shows, movies, concerts, playing sports with your kids, shopping at your grocery stores, worshipping and paying tithes in your churches, getting haircuts…. The list goes on and on.
Now imagine if you will, if those $28 billion dollars suddenly disappears from the Florida economy, because a few people in power didn’t see human beings as human beings.
On a national level, the American Immigration Council estimates the impact of this loss of workers would result in a 4.2% loss in GDP (for the non-economists, that’s a lot). This would equate to a $1.1 TRILLION loss to the economy.
The contributions these workers are making to their local economies far outweigh the cost of losing them. Another inconvenient truth you left out of your press conference, the cost of deportation.
The Department of Homeland Security reports the average cost of deporting one person is $14,000-$20,000 and nationwide the cost estimated for a mass deportation is $315 BIILLION. So, not only will Florida and the United States lose 1 trillion dollars in revenue, this proposed program will cost billions more in deportation costs.
While you are wasting time demonizing some of the hardest workers? On your watch, the citrus industry in Florida is nearly dead.
Despite the hard work of University of Florida and farmers themselves, Alico is shutting down all investments in citrus and agricultural operations. This state is not in trouble because of undocumented human beings who give their all to our society, it is because politicians who ignore the real needs and crises, in favor of political stunts.