Of course that’s what they would do if they actually wanted to stop migrant workers from coming here. They don’t, obviously. No coincidence that the industries who hire the most undocumented migrant workers happen to be owned and staffed mainly by conservatives. Anti-immigrant rhetoric is used as a political tool because it fits the racism and nationalism of the conservative public, but the real goal is to marginalize immigrants so they will accept poor working conditions and can be more easily exploited. It’s the Republican dream - workers who will accept below minimum wage, be afraid to report employers to OSHA, no medical compensation for injuries, no overtime, fire at will, no unemployment. And then it also drives down wages and conditions for legal workers because they know the employer can hire immigrants for cheaper.

When republicans have tried to actually reduce immigrants by targeting employers, it hasn’t gone well for them. DeSantis did so and the big businesses in Florida were basically wtf, dude? Do you not understand this game?