“Private employers in Florida have been required to use E-Verify, a federal system for checking the legal status of a potential hire, since the start of the year. But there have been no complaints made to the state agency in charge of enforcing the law in the five and a half months it’s been in effect. A Department of Economic Opportunity spokeswoman told the Orlando Sentinel there have been no complaints and no enforcement measures taken against any employers since the provisions affecting private businesses took effect Jan. 1” the Orlando Sentinel reports.

“The lack of tangible enforcement within the new law has led to criticism from those who seek more aggressive measures to ensure undocumented immigrants aren’t being hired. ‘It’s a fake bill. It’s paper thin. It’s window dressing,’ said Rep. Anthony Sabatini, R-Howey-in-the-Hills. ‘It’s a bill to make it looked like we passed EVerify in the state of Florida.’ Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed his fellow Republicans in charge of the Legislature to pass the bill last year and included it as a top priority, arguing it would help screen undocumented immigrants from the workforce and help lead to pay increases for low-wage workers. ‘Lower-income workers also shouldn’t have their wages depressed by cheap foreign labor,’ DeSantis said in his 2020 State of the State speech. ‘Assuring a legal workforce through E-Verify will be good for the rule of law, protect taxpayers, and place an upward pressure on the wages of Floridians who work in blue collar jobs.’ A spokeswoman for DeSantis did not return an email seeking comment Friday.”