Bill Lay is more accustomed to working in the kitchens of his five restaurants than walking the halls of government in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. But Lay has found himself meeting with state and federal legislators on both sides of the aisle and being interviewed in recent weeks by the Wall Street Journal, which quoted him in a recent article entitled, “Why Thousands of Florida Workers are Disappearing.” Lay was also recently interviewed by the New York Times about his own personal efforts, supported by the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, to find some middle ground on the immigration and deportation issue, which is affecting Key West’s and the Florida Keys’ workforce — and Lay’s kitchen staff at his five restaurants, bars and catering company.
“I’ve actually been lobbying Congress, meeting with representatives and senators, Carlos Gimenez, Byron Donalds, Jared Moskowitz and anyone who will listen, but so far, to be honest, it’s been falling on rather deaf ears,” said Lay, a Republican who sees both sides of the immigration issue and is proposing a resolution that he calls self-registration as opposed to the self-deportation. “I need about 15 senators to get behind this proposal.”
He said “the person who listed most was Sen. Mike Crapo in Idaho, a farmer who depends on seasonal workers. He was very receptive.” Byron Donalds (who is running for governor), listened to Lay, “but said he doesn’t know if the current politics will allow it,’ Lay said.
“I believe immigration is a two-part problem,” Lay told the Keys Weekly. “The first is controlling the border, and that has been fixed. But the second part is what do we do about the estimated 20 million or so people who are already living and working here? It’ll take decades to deport all these people. And while you’ll get zero argument from me about deporting anyone with a criminal history, the truth is that the majority of these people are not bad people.”
As part of Lay’s proposed “self-registration” program, undocumented immigrants with no criminal history would have three years from the start of the program to meet certain requirements, including taking a civics class and an English class. They would also have to pay $500 a year for the three years, and that fee could be paid by their employer, Lay said.
“In those three years, they would be entitled to no social services or benefits. They would work and pay their taxes without being eligible for Social Security or disability benefits. Within three years, if they complete everything, they get approval to remain here. But the program would have to sunset after three years; otherwise, it would just be an amnesty program. And it’s a one-strike-you’re-out program.
“But I think three years should give the estimated 20 million undocumented people enough time to fulfill the requirements set forth and remain here working,” Lay said, adding that the self-registration program “would eliminate the need for sanctuary cities.”
“We need to protect ourselves, but we also need to show some humanity,” said Lay, who has had workers from his kitchens detained for six weeks to three months at a time. And while they were eventually released with ankle monitors, their lives and jobs were upended.
“Ninery percent of the people they’re capturing are eventually released, but what happens in those weeks and months?”
Businesses will suffer more than they are now, he said, and Key West is sort of a test case.
“We’re different down here,” he said. “We can’t pull workers from farther away.
“The first domino to fall,” Lay predicted, “will be reduced hours at restaurants, with them being open five days a week rather than seven. Or not serving breakfast or lunch.”
He views Key West as a microcosm of the national immigration issue.
“The backbone of this state is tourism,” Lay said. “And after that it’s agriculture and construction — all of which are entirely dependent on immigrant labor.”
