After a slowdown back in March, migrant encounters in Florida have since risen to record levels, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The agency released its figures for June, showing that there were over 32,000 encounters in the state — a jump of over 1,700% from the same timeframe three years ago.
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So far this year, Florida has already seen over 250,000 encounters, which is greater than the entirety of 2023, 2022 or 2021. In fact, Florida has been among the states seeing the greatest rise in illegal immigration, according to the Pew Research Center.
The data shows that the greatest number of encounters involved Haitian citizens, though many others hailed from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
In terms of citizenship, the full list of June encounters is as follows:
| Citizenship | Encounters |
|---|---|
| Haiti | 16,443 |
| Cuba | 5,994 |
| Venezuela | 3,578 |
| Nicaragua | 3,485 |
| Ukraine | 659 |
| India | 223 |
| Philippines | 199 |
| Colombia | 167 |
| Honduras | 79 |
| Brazil | 73 |
| Ecuador | 73 |
| Guatemala | 51 |
| Russia | 45 |
| China | 42 |
| Mexico | 33 |
| Myanmar | 32 |
| Peru | 31 |
| El Salvador | 23 |
| Turkey | 15 |
| Canada | 8 |
| Romania | 8 |
| Cuba | 1 |
| Other | 951 |
However, the CBP released its numbers for July over the weekend, showing a sharp drop in encounters: only 24,509 (a figure that is still the highest for the same timeframe in the previous three years).
Illegal immigration in Florida has been a major policy driver for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers in recent years, with the Legislature passing a new rule last year (SB 1718) that would issue fines to businesses found hiring undocumented workers.
In addition, Florida teams — including FHP troopers and members of the State Guard — have been dispatched to Texas to help enforce the southern U.S. border, which Florida leaders have said is a major source of illegal immigration into the Sunshine State.
“We’ve come into contact with multiple migrants. They either cut (the fence), they either crawl over it, they crawl through it, and it’s just what we’re doing is basically grabbing hold of them,” FHP Sgt. Leonard Yuknavage said last year. “If they get over the wire, we turn them over to Border Patrol. They usually throw blankets over it. They try to get their family units through — mostly adults.”
CBP data backs up this claim. Of the undocumented migrants encountered in June, the vast majority were reportedly single adults.
Earlier this year, DeSantis announced that nearly 11,000 undocumented migrants had been repatriated after trying to enter the state illegally since August 2022.
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT MY WALLET?
While experts largely agree that legalized immigrants are a net boon for the economy, illegal immigration has a variety of potential costs and benefits, which is why the issue has been so contentious among U.S. voters.
One of the primary economic costs of mass migration is a rise in demand for all kinds of goods and services. And when demand goes up, so do prices.
“You need food. You need shelter. You need medical care of some sort, and so those resources have to come from somewhere,” said Sean Snaith, the director of the Institute for Economic Forecast at the University of Central Florida.
It’s an issue facing border states in particular.
“Not everybody crosses in Texas and ends up in Iowa,” Snaith said. “So I think border states are faced with far more issues than perhaps the rest of the United States from this kind of large influx of people.”
However, some businesses benefit from the access to undocumented workers, who are willing and able to work for lower wages than U.S. citizens — especially undocumented workers who may accept wages below the federally mandated minimum, which legal workers cannot do.
As such, the reduction in labor costs could translate into lower prices for consumers.
“I think that’s part of the reason among others that there hasn’t really been a crackdown, as it were, trying to get a hold on who and how many people are coming into the United States,” Snaith said.
On the flip side, this means that the labor pool in Florida expands, primarily among low-skilled workers. As dictated by the rules of supply and demand, this increases competition among workers, which depresses market wages.
If the flow of mass migration were stymied, it would mean that businesses would be forced to offer up higher wages for workers. But this could also result in higher labor costs being passed down to consumers.
Researchers have also found that illegal immigration may result in higher tax burdens for the state, as these immigrants pay less in taxes while still taking advantage of public services like schools.
In short: more illegal immigration could help cut costs for businesses and skilled workers, but it reduces market wages for low-skilled workers and can boost the cost of living.
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