Two Central Florida Democrats join Republicans in support of bill expanding E-Verify mandate

Two Democratic state representatives from Central Florida — State Rep. Leonard Spencer, D-Gotha, and Rep. Jose Alvarez, D-Kissimmee — joined Republicans in the Florida House on Wednesday in approving a controversial bill that would require all private employers in Florida to use the federal E-Verify system to check employees’ immigration status during the hiring process.

Currently, Florida law has a carve-out for businesses with 25 employees or fewer, initially put in place in 2021 to appease the small business community. Many Democrats, as well as groups like the Florida Immigrant Coalition and American Civil Liberties Union, have opposed the new bill (HB 955), arguing it will unduly burden small businesses that are struggling to recruit labor as it is, and send a harmful message to immigrant communities.

“We’re going to see in this state a dramatic shift of hard-working immigrants who came to this country, following the rules, now be told that they have to leave or face some sort of mass detention, deportation,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando.

“And under this banner, we’re basically taking a population of hard-working people and rejecting them purely based on what the federal government defines as an unregulated status. And I think that’s dangerous, bad for our economy, [and] does not make any one of us more safe.”

The bill, sponsored by Republican Reps. Berney Jacques of Seminole, was passed by the Florida House in a 88-25 vote, with seven Democrats joining Republicans in support.

All votes in opposition to the bill came from Democrats. As the Florida Phoenix reports, however, similar legislation filed in the Florida Senate by Democrat Jason Pizzo and Republican Blaise Ingoglia has failed to advance, making the proposal unlikely to pass both chambers before the scheduled end of Florida’s legislative session on May 2.

Alvarez’s office did not return a request for comment from Orlando Weekly in time for publication. Spencer, in an emailed statement, framed his vote as protective of immigrant workers, not antagonistic. “I believe that Florida’s economy should be built on a foundation of fair, lawful, and transparent work. A system where people are compensated properly, labor standards are clear, and no one is forced into the shadows just to make a living,” Spencer told Orlando Weekly in a statement.

“At the same time, we have to be honest about a larger truth: we need real immigration reform,” he added. “Without it, too many people are left vulnerable and working in the shadows, afraid to speak up, and easy to exploit. That’s not who we are as Floridians.”

Both men were endorsed for office last year by the Florida for All coalition, made up of the Florida Immigrant Coalition (which opposed the bill) and five other social and economic justice groups.

‘I cannot turn my back on my immigrant community’

Florida lawmakers first mandated that public employers, their contractors, and subcontractors use the federal E-Verify system in 2021, then followed up with a bill expanding that to all private employers with 25 employees or more a couple of years later. The election of President Donald Trump, and his administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants, however, has emboldened some Florida lawmakers to take the state’s own immigration policies further.

According to Bloomberg News, lawmakers in more than a dozen states this year have considered legislation to either require use of the federal E-Verify system or expand existing E-Verify requirements.

Currently, in Florida, the use of E-Verify by small businesses with fewer than 25 employees is voluntary. All employers, under federal law, are already required to collect identity and residency documents to fill out an I-9 form. E-Verify serves as a second verification step — one that critics say has a high error rate and opens business owners up to Department of Justice investigations for noncompliance.

“According to the government’s own statistics, E-Verify has a 20 percent error rate on baseline,” said North Miami-Dade Democrat Dotie Joseph, speaking on the House floor. “Another reason employers do not choose to use E-Verify is that it is bad for business,” she added. “It exposes them to potential investigation from the Department of Justice, and that carries a fine of $2,000 per worker.”

Industry groups have historically opposed E-Verify mandates, according to Bloomberg News, with mandates disproportionately affecting industries that employ a greater number of immigrant and undocumented workers, such as hospitality, construction, and agriculture. “I personally have received several complaints regarding the fact that it’s cumbersome and it’s taking them a lot of time and they need additional resources,” said Rep. Marie Woodson, referring to Florida employers broadly.

Rep. Jacques, a Haitian immigrant himself, however, was unsympathetic to concerns. “This does not attack immigrant workers,” he contended. “It attacks workers that are not authorized to work within the state.”

Woodson, also from Haiti, rebuked his differentiation. “As sons and daughters of immigrants, and as an immigrant myself, I cannot turn my back on my immigrant community,” she shared.

“We know that immigration is an issue, but we also know that we have so many families, so many people who have kids in this country who came to this country because they were fleeing persecution, violence and everything else. They have been here for years, and they have children. As a mother of two children, I cannot, in good conscience, not see what they are going through.”

Turbulent times

The Florida E-Verify bill comes as the Trump administration executes sweeping deportation efforts across the United States, targeting undocumented people, as well as student activists. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who unsuccessfully ran against Trump for president, has also taken action to ensure cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts, despite outcry from immigrant and human rights groups.

One young man recently arrested in Florida by state troopers, and detained under a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold, was a U.S. citizen.

Trump himself has flip-flopped on mandating E-Verify use by employers. Less than 20 percent of U.S. employers use it already. According to Fortune Magazine, the Trump administration introduced but later “quietly dropped” language in budget proposals that would have required mandatory nationwide E-Verify use. It hasn’t been pitched by Trump again since he returned to office.

What’s next?

The Florida House approved Jacques’ E-Verify bill Wednesday. Both chambers of the Florida Legislature, however, need to approve legislation in order for it to pass and head to the Governor’s desk. The Senate has shown little interest in taking up similar proposals introduced in the Senate.

With Florida’s legislative session scheduled to end next Friday, May 2, both Politico and the Florida Phoenix report that, despite support in the House, the bill is likely dead and unlikely to reach DeSantis.

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This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2025.