Karla Correa, Immokalee resident: “Our state relies on immigrants, our community is made up of immigrants… There is unity here in Florida…”

Nearly 7,000 residents of Southwest Florida flood the streets of Immokalee in protest of SB 1718, Florida’s virulent anti-immigrant legislation

This year, the Florida legislature passed an avalanche of unprecedented legislation, transforming the state’s laws governing classrooms, gun safety (or lack thereof), elections, healthcare, and – last but certainly not least – immigration in a law known as SB 1718.

As the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, we stand firmly against SB 1718, and against the fear, division, and economic hardship it will bring to Florida.  The malicious provision requiring public hospitals to ask for immigration status will cruelly discourage people in need of medical attention, including young children, from seeking the care they need.  The transportation provision will criminalize everyday Floridians – including travel team coaches and commercial bus drivers, parent chaperones on field trips, and small businesses keeping the state’s fragile economy running – for innocently traveling in and out of our state.  The law is inhumane, impossible to fairly enforce, and leaves our communities less safe and more divided than ever.  

When it comes to the law’s inevitable economic impact, lawmakers in Tallahassee have missed critical lessons from recent history.  One need only look to the agricultural fields in Georgia, Alabama, and Arizona in 2010 and 2011, full of rotting peaches, peppers, and watermelons, to see the disastrous impact of anti-immigrant legislation on labor supply and tourism. In addition to the contribution immigrants make to our state’s economy every single day, which is easily measurable in ever-rising labor productivity and millions of tax dollars, the authors of this bill also entirely neglect the immeasurable gifts of immigrant families in our schools, our sanctuaries of faith, and our communities everywhere across our state.

But last Thursday, on June 1, communities across the Florida – and the country – fought back.  In Immokalee alone, nearly 7,000 farmworkers, construction workers, landscapers, restaurant and shop owners, their family members, and supporters from across Southwest Florida joined organizers with Unidos Immokalee and the Florida Immigrant Coalition in taking to the streets of Immokalee in a one-day work stoppage and major march in order to protest Florida’s new anti-immigration.

With nearly 20 local businesses shuttered for the day and 7,000 community members gathered together, braving both the scorching summer sun and multiple summer downpours, the resounding message in Immokalee was one of strength, resilience, and solidarity.  And Southwest Florida was not alone.  Communities of working immigrants all over Florida and the US joined together in rallies against the law from Tampa to Homestead that included business closures and refusals to go to work, amounting to a statewide general strike. 

The march in Immokalee – easily among the largest in the town’s history – garnered national attention, with images of the joyful and determined residents of our region splashed across the Associated Press, Washington Post, Reuters, NBC, and many, many others.

Today, we want to lift up the incredible work of Unidos Immokalee and the Florida Immigrant Coalition and share excerpts from some of the top stories as well as a gallery of photos from the massive Immokalee rally.

Coalition of Immokalee Workers
110 S 2nd St
Immokalee, FL 34142
United States

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