Trump's Wall Builds Outrage, Fear Among Florida Immigrants
Posted January 27, 2017 04:45 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Donald Trump's campaign promise to take dramatic action on immigration has become a reality, and those who work with Florida's immigrant community say the actions carry a high moral and economic cost.
On Wednesday, President Trump signed orders to begin the
construction process on a border wall with Mexico,
remove funding for sanctuary cities, and broaden the
criteria for priority deportations.
Francesca Menes with the Florida Immigrant Coalition
said she rejects the notion that these measures will do
anything to make Americans safer, but said the message
to immigrants is clear.
"You want our communities to live in fear. You want our
families to be separated," Menes said. "You're targeting
this group of individuals not for any other reason but
for political posturing."
The term "sanctuary city" applies to communities with
policies in place that limit cooperation with or
involvement in federal immigration-enforcement actions.
There's no exact count on how many such cities exist in
Florida, but some experts have estimated the executive
order could affect nearly half of Florida's counties.
Trump said his plan will save or create millions of jobs
here in the United States. But Menes said the climate of
fear will be devastating for Florida's economy.
"Especially when you're looking at agricultural jobs,
when you're looking at hospitality jobs, you're looking
at nannies, domestic workers," she said, "and many of
these people undocumented who are going to start going
into hiding, and we're not going to have a workforce."
To pay for the border wall, Trump instructed the
Department of Homeland Security to use existing funds to
begin construction, while still insisting that Mexico
will eventually foot the bill for what some estimate
will be a $20 billion project.
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