'It's definitely chaos': How immigration law impacts Florida restaurants, construction

Provisions of Florida's new law cracking down on the use of workers who are not in this country legally won't take effect until July 1.

But Manuel Lievano, chief executive officer of Miami-based MCC USA Global Workforce Solutions, says he already is seeing its impact at the Miami-area fine-dining restaurants he visits. An existing worker shortage there is getting worse.

"It's definitely chaos right now" in the restaurant industry, said Lievano, whose firm connects U.S. companies experiencing labor shortages with foreign workers who want to obtain permanent residency in the United States.

Officials in the hotel and construction industries say they also expect to feel the pinch. The challenge Florida employers face of filling jobs in a state that has a 2.6% unemployment rate is being exacerbated by the new legislation. Florida’s unemployment rate has been the lowest among the nation's 10 largest states for 12 consecutive months.

Among the provisions of Senate Bill 1718 ― which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in May ― private employers with 25 or more employees must use the federal E-Verify system to confirm the employment eligibility of their new employees, effective July 1. The bill expands penalties for employers who fail to comply with E-Verify requirements, including the possible suspension and revocation of employer licenses.

It also cracks down on the issuing of identification documents to illegal aliens; invalidates out-of-state driver's licenses issued to them; and requires hospitals to collect information ― and send a quarterly report to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration ― on health care costs for illegal aliens.

DeSantis calls these provisions and others in the bill "the most ambitious anti-illegal-immigration laws in the country."

Lievano said, as a result of the legislation, there has been a recent exodus of restaurant staff both in "front-of-the-house" and "back-of-the-house" positions.

Lievano said many servers and hosts at Miami-area restaurants are in this country legally on a tourism visa, but cannot legally work on such a visa. So they are giving up their restaurant jobs as a way to avoid risking losing their visas.

Meanwhile, many of the lower-wage food runners, bussers, dishwashers and cleaning crew members at these restaurants are what Lievano terms "people without status" as far as immigration goes, and are choosing to leave Florida altogether, many for Georgia.

Lievano said those affected come from a wide range of counties in Latin America, Europe and Asia.

He added that it is likely to get worse, as new restaurants seek staff for scheduled "high season" openings in the fall.

Fears from the Florida hospitality, tourism industry

For Eric Garvey, chief operating officer of the Cocoa Beach-based Baugher Hospitality Group, the key concern with the new law is its potential negative impact on the availability of service providers for his company's two hotels in Cocoa Beach and three in nearby Cape Canaveral.

While Garvey's company has not had a direct impact within its own staff so far related to the pending immigration law, he is worried that companies the Baugher Hospitality Group hires for various services will be affected, thus causing delays in their availability.

This includes a range of businesses, such as those that clean floors and carpets; maintain kitchen equipment; repair roofs; do pest control; and deliver landscaping material. Also potentially affected, Garvey said, are companies that provide the hotels with supplemental labor for housekeeping, kitchen and banquet work.

'It's going to be hard': New immigration law sparks fear and worker exodus from Florida

What the governor says: DeSantis signs illegal immigration crackdown and rails against Biden

How the law could impact construction, homebuilding projects

John Thomas, chief executive officer of the Home Builders and Contractors Association of Florida’s Space Coast, says his organization is starting to receive inquiries from members about provisions of the new law.

"We are doing our best to make sure they are well-informed" about the legislation, Thomas said.

Thus far, Thomas said, he has not seen any positive or negative impacts from the measure on local projects in his region.

"We, as an association, are monitoring it closely, to see how it's going to affect our members or the industry as a whole." Thomas said. "It remains to be seen. We understand where the Legislature and the governor are coming from" in backing the legislation.

If there is an effect, Thomas surmises, it more likely would be on subcontractors, rather than general contractors or builders, as the latter typically have more long-term workers than the subcontractors, whose staff may shift from company to company. Among the categories of subcontractors Thomas citied are roofers, air-conditioning installers, drywallers and painters.

Lievano said many construction workers without immigration status are leaving the state, fearing the new Florida law. Companies in the construction industry are facing a worker shortage that is increasing the cost of projects and increasing the time it is taking to complete them.

Lievano said he has heard of plans by some larger construction companies to split into several smaller companies of less than 25 employees each to avoid the provision of the legislation requiring private employers with 25 or more employees to use the E-Verify system to confirm the employment eligibility of their new employees.

But Lievano said that doesn't solve their hiring problem, since many workers without status are leaving the state anyway because of issues with them getting driver's licenses, access to education and access to health care, among other factors.

"The problem is much bigger" than companies trying to split into smaller companies to avoid the law's provisions, Lievano said. "It's going to be very, very, very, very, very unlikely to see somebody in Florida without (immigration) status" that is required for them to work in the state legally actually on the job after the new law takes effect.

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at  dberman@floridatoday.com, on Twitter at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida immigration law could affect restaurants, tourism, construction