Speaker of the House Rep Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, said Monday that an immigration-enforcement bill will be introduced during the legislative session that kicks off tomorrow, telling The Miami Herald the bill would be a “Florida-style” and not an “Arizona-style” immigration law.
The Herald adds:
The illegal immigration bill, [Cannon] said, would allow law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of someone who is the subject of a criminal investigation, but not during a routine traffic stop. The bill also will require using e-Verify to confirm immigration status of all public employees by Jan. 1, 2012, and for private companies with more than 100 employees after Jan. 1, 2013. [Emphasis added.]
Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order in January requiring all state agencies (and perhaps more importantly, companies that contract with state agencies) to screen employees using the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify system, which allows employers to ensure that people they hire are eligible to work in the United States.
A bill to require every employer to use the Employment Authorization Program, E-Verify, was filed by state Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla. A similar law has been filed in the House.
State Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, and Rep. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers, have filed immigration-enforcement bills that would prohibit state or local authorities from limiting or restricting the enforcement of immigration laws and require local law enforcement to request citizenship information under certain circumstances.
Another immigration enforcement bill filed by state Rep. Kenneth Roberson, R-Port Charlotte, would require the Department of Corrections and the Parole Commission to “establish agreements to implement federal deportation programs for state inmates.”
Last week, U.S. Rep Tom Rooney, R-Stuart, filed the “Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2011,” to allow prison officials in federal, state, or local facilities to hold criminal aliens after serving their sentences until they are transferred into federal custody and removed from the United States.
