Florida's new immigration law goes into effect in less than a month▼

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Published 113d ago

There's fear among undocumented families in Florida. In less than a month, a new immigration law will go into effect. "I am very scared because I don't know if I could be detained," said Mirella Estrada, an undocumented farmworker in South Florida. The new immigration law will require hospitals receiving Medicaid money to ask patients for their immigration status. "It's causing fear and it's deterring people from seeking health care," said Renata Bozzetto, deputy director for the  Florida Immigrant Coalition. According to migrant advocates, misinformation is causing panic for the undocumented. "Our services team is already receiving reports of hospitals and doctors' offices refusing care because they are also afraid for being liable because they don't understand the full extent of the law," said Bozzetto. "They think they can't go to the hospitals, to the doctor because they think if they go into the doctor they ask ... about the documentation," said Claudia Gonzalez, an organizer for the  Farmworker Association of Florida. But answering about immigration status is optional and won't stop medical care. SEE MORE: Migrants, advocates say new Florida law will greatly hurt labor market "We work picking tomatoes," said Estrada. Source