\u201cHe stirred a hornet\u2019s nest he shouldn\u2019t have gotten involved with,\u201d said a plant nursery owner as he slammed the immigration law signed by Florida\u2019s Republican governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HOMESTEAD, Fla. \u2014 Farmworkers didn’t show up to work, plant nursery owners closed for the day and many businesses didn’t open to the public in a show of solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A national boycott dubbed \u201cUn D\u00eda Sin Inmigrantes,\u201d or \u201cA day without immigrants,\u201d took place Thursday as a protest against a Florida immigration law scheduled to take effect in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who recently announced he’s running as a Republican presidential candidate, last month<\/a>\u2002signed into law SB-1718,\u2002<\/a>which includes penalties for certain employers if they don’t verify a worker’s immigration status and for those who transport people who are undocumented, among other provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also requires Florida hospitals that accept Medicaid include a citizenship question on forms, thus discouraging many immigrants from getting medical care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho\u2019s to blame? Only the governor, because he stirred a hornet\u2019s nest he shouldn\u2019t have gotten involved with,\u201d said William De La Cruz, whose Eagle Nursery in Homestead closed its doors Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[DeSantis] also eats from the produce that immigrants pick,\u201d the owner told Noticias Telemundo in an interview.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Protests were scheduled in Florida and at least eight other states, including California, Georgia, Minnesota, Illinois, Oregon, Texas, South Carolina and Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In downtown Los Angeles, near the historic Placita Olvera, a group of protesters gathered to denounce SB-1718 and \u201cdemand dignity, respect, and a path to citizenship for ALL!,\u201d the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, or CHIRLA, tweeted. \u201cWe are not one, we are not 100, we are millions, count us right,\u201d a video depicting a crowd chanting in unison and in Spanish showed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Florida, some immigrant families, mostly Latinos, have left the state and others are debating whether or not to do the same before the law takes effect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re feeling the impact because there are families who have been moving to different states, fleeing from this nefarious and arbitrary law that really destroys a lot of families,\u201d Jes\u00fas Rojas, who closed his two Peruvian restaurants in Orlando on Thursday, told Noticias Telemundo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A nursery worker of Mexican heritage who asked to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions told<\/a> WTVJ, an NBC affiliate in Miami, \u201cWe basically have to flee, flee like if we were criminals and we\u2019re not \u2014 on the contrary, we\u2019re here to work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the passage of SB-1718, unconfirmed viral videos surfaced online depicting empty construction sites, businesses and agricultural fields. Latino truckers nationwide took to TikTok advocating other truckers boycott Florida. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Florida Trucking Association told NBC News in a statement Thursday that they knew about the videos that had gone viral but were not aware of any issues impacting the state, according to CEO and President Alix Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA day without immigrants\u201d came almost a week after a protest\u2002<\/a>organized by WeCount!, a local organization advocating for immigrant workers, in the agricultural town of Homestead. The event saw a turnout of more than 2,000 people outside Homestead City Hall expressing their opposition to the new law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n