Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and other state lawmakers have proposed an immigration bill modeled after Arizona’s bill, but one they say should withstand court challenges.
“This legislation will provide new enforcement tools for protecting our citizens and will help our state fight the ongoing problems created by illegal immigration,” McCollum said in a statement. “Florida will not be a sanctuary state for illegal aliens.”
“Arizona is going to want this law,” said McCollum. “We’re better, we’re stronger, we’re tougher and we’re fairer.”
The proposed Florida bill has been ‘strengthened‘ and goes beyond Arizona’s immigration bill by letting judges consider a defendant’s illegal immigrant status during bond proceedings.
In ‘lawful stops,’ Florida would require law enforcement officers to check the residency status of anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant. It also would make it a crime for employers who hire illegal immigrants, and it would make Florida businesses to use a federal E-verify system against hiring illegals.