Farmers worry Florida bill will worsen labor scarcity woes

FLORIDA CITY, Fla. (AP) — On a recent afternoon, many stools stood empty beside a conveyor belt where workers examined a stream of green tomatoes and tossed aside those with holes and cracks at a South Florida packing house.

Paul J. DiMare, one of the country’s leading producers of fresh tomatoes, recalls the days when hundreds of foreign workers lined up to labor in the fields or box the produce at his facility in Florida City. The machines roared for more than 12 hours a day as truckloads of tomatoes rolled in to be washed, inspected and packaged. Now, they run for only four.

“If you have no labor, you can’t run your operation,” DiMare says.

The influential farmer and head of DiMare Inc. is among a group of businessmen trying to kill a Florida bill that would require private companies to verify each new hire's eligibility to work in the U.S. through a screening process called E-Verify. DiMare says that could reduce the pool of candidates when his business faces a labor shortage of more than 30%.

“I think illegal immigration is one of the worst things that has happened to this country,” he said. “But we don’t have a good immigration policy. And what are we going to do to replace those people?”

The state Senate Judicial Committee planned to start debate Tuesday on the E-Verify, legislation — a discussion that is dividing Republican lawmakers. Gov. Ron DeSantis has vowed to pass it, saying it would remove an incentive for people to come illegally.

The bill would rescind licenses of non-abiding businesses and have a state agency report unauthorized workers to immigration authorities.

Sen. President Bill Galvano opposes the bill, saying it would create a burden for employers in Florida's vital agriculture, tourism and construction sectors. Similar...