A trucker boycott of the state of Florida following Governor Ron DeSantis’s bill that imposed stricter penalties and restrictions on illegal migrants in Florida is yet to materialize. The lack of action came despite corporate media hype, and support from Democrat Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
A number of videos surfaced online over the past week that showed demands calling for truckers not to drive their goods to Florida, including one trucker who argued in Spanish:
“Do not enter Florida. Let’s support immigrants. What they’re doing in Florida is not okay. I’m going to say it again, I won’t enter Florida and neither will my truck. Let’s not pretend like we’re not all immigrants here.”
The far-left member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, took to Twitter to support the protests, telling her followers that “[a]nti-immigrant policies reap what they sow. DeSantis’ Florida is about to find that out.”
Anti-immigrant policies reap what they sow. DeSantis’ Florida is about to find that out.
The US has such deep needs right now, particularly in labor. Yet policymakers (of ALL stripes) take our immigrant communities for granted.
No más. Time to stop biting the hands that feed. https://t.co/FVGRjDr6BR
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 13, 2023
Reality.
Even the leftist Tallahassee Democrat conceded this week they were unaware of any truckers actually boycotting the Sunshine State.
The President of Florida Trucking Association, Alix Miller, furthermore, told the British left-wing website the Independent, “I’m aware of the reports, but have not heard of any issues.”
Corporate media sources originally reported “empty shelves” due to the protests. It soon became apparent that one of their videos was from October, and showed shortages due to Hurricane Ian. Another showed a recent refrigeration issue at a Walmart Supercenter.