TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — LuLu's La Mexicana is usually filled with customers at lunch time, instead Thursday it was empty.
Monserratt Juarez, one of the owners of the restaurant says it's part of a work strike to show what life in Florida would be like without immigrant staffed and owned businesses.
"It's just a scary situation for everybody not just us and the fear of losing a family member or a friend things like that," said Juarez.
The strike is in response to an anti-illegal immigration law that Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law on May 10th. Juarez says the law is something that's hard for her to process.
"I don't understand what their thought process is and how they think this would better the country in any way," said Juarez.
SB 1718 requires businesses with more than 25 employees to go through an online verification process. Also businesses could lose their licenses if they knowingly employ undocumented immigrants. Additionally it increases penalties for people bringing in undocumented immigrants, and provides 12 million dollars to an illegal immigrant relocation program. Governor DeSantis says the law is to combat what he calls the Biden Border Crisis.
"Where is this president's energy? Where is his vigor? Where is his commitment to the cause? He's just sitting around doing nothing," the Governor said.
Dainel Tavera, owner of Taqueria Miranda, is a Mexican American, who says they closed up shop to protest the law as well.
"It hurts, it hits home," Tavera said. "It's our family, it's our neighbors, and we're just trying to do what we can to support this cause."
Renata Castro, is an immigration attorney, for Castro Legal Group. She says once the law goes into effect July it could be harder for businesses to find qualified workers who want to do jobs like construction and food service.
"This is not a justification for them to break the law but it's about time as a state we recognize the vital economic role immigrants play in the state and provide the business community with a solution," she said.
Castro says the most important thing for immigrants is to not panic.
"There's nothing in the law that says you can not send your kids to school, so it's important that before you make any harsh decisions about where to live that you seek legal advice," said Castro.
For Tavera, the cause is worth it because it means supporting immigrants who help the community go round.
"Nobody wants to work in kitchens, nobody wants to work in construction, nobody wants to work in agriculture, we're not stealing the jobs we're just doing the jobs nobody else wants to do," Tavera said.
The bill goes into effect July 1. But Castro says the appeals process could bring it to the U.S. Supreme Court.
