Hundreds of Plant City area residents gathered in the parking lot of Plant City Plaza on South Collins Street to protest the signing of Florida SB 1718, a bill which includes a number of new anti-immigration measures which takes effect July 1.
The peaceful yet passionate group, holding signs and waving flags from their native countries, marched north down Collins Street, turned west on East Reynolds Street and concluded at the county courthouse.
Participant and radio personality Eli Aguilar was surprised at the turnout, which she hopes raises awareness about concerns some community members have about the ramifications of the legislation.
“One part of the legislation that worries our community is when you go to hospitals they’re going to have to report when you’re undocumented to the government,” she said. “This is going to cause people to be scared and cause issues with their health.”
The legislation requires each hospital that accepts Medicaid to include a question on admission or registration forms that asks whether the patient is a U.S. citizen or lawfully present in the U.S. or is not lawfully present in the U.S. Hospitals will be required to provide a quarterly report to the Agency for Health Care Administration detailing the number of patients that visited the emergency department or were admitted to the hospital in each category of the citizen status question on the admission or registration forms.
She also thinks the legislation will affect the agricultural industry.
“Farmworkers are going to lose workers, we need them here but we’ve already seen people leave Plant City,” she said. “We’re just here to work hard.”
She hopes this demonstration and others throughout the state will raise awareness of the challenges that undocumented immigrants and those in the community face.
“I’m just hoping the governor analyzes this law that has passed and thinks about it,” she said. “I want immigrants not to be scared to be in Florida.”