Thread: Florida GOP leaders back off illegal-immigration crackdown

Mike Thomas

6:49 p.m. EST, January 15, 2011
There will be no Arizona-style immigration law in Florida.

There will be no crackdown on illegal workers.

Gov. Rick Scott will be leading no bus caravans back to Mexico.

If this is the issue that fired you up and drove you to the polls, then it served its purpose.

It rallied the conservative base. It played a key role in Scott's race against Bill McCollum in the Republican primary.

But now the campaigns are over, and reality has set in.

Too much of Florida's economy relies on illegal workers. So they aren't going anywhere except back to the hotel rooms, the construction sites, the restaurant kitchens and the vegetable fields.

If it's any consolation for him, McCollum was right when he said: "We don't need that law in Florida. That's not what's going to happen here."

Truth can be bad politics.

And please do not rant against the liberals on this one.

Businesses don't want a crackdown. The cops don't want a crackdown. Republican strategists don't want a crackdown. Hispanic members of Congress and the Legislature don't want a crackdown.

Jeb Bush, who co-chaired the Hispanic Leadership Network conference last week, is very vocal about not wanting a crackdown.

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos has talked tough. But he picked Anitere Flores to oversee hearings on an immigration bill. She was a strong supporter of the Dream Act, a congressional bill that would have given permanent status to young illegal residents who went to college or served in the military. She uses the term "unauthorized immigration.''

None of the witnesses called before her committee has supported an Arizona bill.

Two words: stacked deck.

Even the Republican who introduced the Arizona bill in the state Senate, Mike Bennett of Bradenton, says he "might not even vote for it myself.''

At best we will see some loophole-laden, face-saving measures for public consumption.

One example is Gov. Scott's order that state agencies use the federal government's E-Verify system to check the legal status of new hires. It's not like Mexican biologists are sneaking across the border to work for the Department of Environmental Protection.

Scott has backed off a proposal to require private employers to use E-Verify.

The reason is simple: It would hit the tourism, construction and service industries very hard. And it would shut down agriculture. Any farm that enforced E-Verify would see its labor force dry up and its crops rot in the field.

And that would send a lot of legal workers to the unemployment line.

That would hardly get Scott off to a stellar start on his promise to create 700,000 jobs.

The business round tables that preside over Florida's economy don't mind if Republicans demagogue on illegal immigrants to get elected. If that's what it takes to beat Democrats, then so be it. But once they are in office, and it's time to govern, business is business.

And a crackdown would be bad for business.

As a businessman, Scott understands that.

Eventually, House Speaker Dean Cannon will have to explain all this to the man he picked as his judiciary chairman: Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart.

Snyder is gung-ho for an Arizona law. He wrote a version of it last year. White Republicans far and wide gave him a big high-five. Hispanic Republicans scratched their heads over what looked to be a carve-out exemption for Canadians and Europeans.

Snyder says he will get his bill through the House, but I tend to think he hasn't cleared that with Cannon, who has never put this issue on his list of priorities.

A former cop, Snyder says cops can check on the legal status of people without profiling. But if the vast majority of illegal immigrants are Hispanic, then Hispanics obviously are going to fall under more suspicion when stopped by police.

This is why the Florida Police Chiefs Association wants nothing to do with this bill. Invariably, some South Florida high-school principal who was working in his yard will be carted off to jail for the crime of having an accent and not having a wallet, while in possession of dirty fingernails.

As Republicans begin taking all this in, increasingly their conclusion is: No, we can't.

Mike Thomas can be reached at 407-420-5525 or mthomas@orlandosentinel.com.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opi ... umn?page=1

Originally Posted by topsecret10

Mike Thomas

6:49 p.m. EST, January 15, 2011
There will be no Arizona-style immigration law in Florida.

There will be no crackdown on illegal workers.

Gov. Rick Scott will be leading no bus caravans back to Mexico.

If this is the issue that fired you up and drove you to the polls, then it served its purpose.

It rallied the conservative base. It played a key role in Scott's race against Bill McCollum in the Republican primary.

But now the campaigns are over, and reality has set in.

Too much of Florida's economy relies on illegal workers. So they aren't going anywhere except back to the hotel rooms, the construction sites, the restaurant kitchens and the vegetable fields.

If it's any consolation for him, McCollum was right when he said: "We don't need that law in Florida. That's not what's going to happen here."

Truth can be bad politics.

And please do not rant against the liberals on this one.

Businesses don't want a crackdown. The cops don't want a crackdown. Republican strategists don't want a crackdown. Hispanic members of Congress and the Legislature don't want a crackdown.

Jeb Bush, who co-chaired the Hispanic Leadership Network conference last week, is very vocal about not wanting a crackdown.

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos has talked tough. But he picked Anitere Flores to oversee hearings on an immigration bill. She was a strong supporter of the Dream Act, a congressional bill that would have given permanent status to young illegal residents who went to college or served in the military. She uses the term "unauthorized immigration.''

None of the witnesses called before her committee has supported an Arizona bill.

Two words: stacked deck.

Even the Republican who introduced the Arizona bill in the state Senate, Mike Bennett of Bradenton, says he "might not even vote for it myself.''

At best we will see some loophole-laden, face-saving measures for public consumption.

One example is Gov. Scott's order that state agencies use the federal government's E-Verify system to check the legal status of new hires. It's not like Mexican biologists are sneaking across the border to work for the Department of Environmental Protection.

Scott has backed off a proposal to require private employers to use E-Verify.

The reason is simple: It would hit the tourism, construction and service industries very hard. And it would shut down agriculture. Any farm that enforced E-Verify would see its labor force dry up and its crops rot in the field.

And that would send a lot of legal workers to the unemployment line.

That would hardly get Scott off to a stellar start on his promise to create 700,000 jobs.

The business round tables that preside over Florida's economy don't mind if Republicans demagogue on illegal immigrants to get elected. If that's what it takes to beat Democrats, then so be it. But once they are in office, and it's time to govern, business is business.

And a crackdown would be bad for business.

As a businessman, Scott understands that.

Eventually, House Speaker Dean Cannon will have to explain all this to the man he picked as his judiciary chairman: Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart.

Snyder is gung-ho for an Arizona law. He wrote a version of it last year. White Republicans far and wide gave him a big high-five. Hispanic Republicans scratched their heads over what looked to be a carve-out exemption for Canadians and Europeans.

Snyder says he will get his bill through the House, but I tend to think he hasn't cleared that with Cannon, who has never put this issue on his list of priorities.

A former cop, Snyder says cops can check on the legal status of people without profiling. But if the vast majority of illegal immigrants are Hispanic, then Hispanics obviously are going to fall under more suspicion when stopped by police.

This is why the Florida Police Chiefs Association wants nothing to do with this bill. Invariably, some South Florida high-school principal who was working in his yard will be carted off to jail for the crime of having an accent and not having a wallet, while in possession of dirty fingernails.

As Republicans begin taking all this in, increasingly their conclusion is: No, we can't.

Mike Thomas can be reached at 407-420-5525 or mthomas@orlandosentinel.com.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opi ... umn?page=1

\\\


are you nuts well i know for sure I will Not go to Flo at all . By the way My friends move out of Flo . it very bad .

Gov. Rick Scott broke his promises. Come next election, vote him out. btw, could he be charged for harboring or enticing illegals to stay? jw

Originally Posted by busygirl

Gov. Rick Scott broke his promises. Come next election, vote him out. btw, could he be charged for harboring or enticing illegals to stay? jw

yep .. you lie once and thats all it takes and this was a HUGE lie

Your fired .. if you are an Incumbant and you dont fight tooth an nail against ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION you just became worthless and Mr Irrellivant

Pink Slips are already being wrote out.. by the way, if you get tough on Illegal Immigration just prior to an election, your already 2 years too late and you will be put in the Un-employment line

Looks like Floridians just got suckered BIG TIME . I hope this is not true yet it has been the sound of crickets on Illegal Immigration ever since the elections.

Originally Posted by topsecret10

The reason is simple: It would hit the tourism, construction and service industries very hard. And it would shut down agriculture. Any farm that enforced E-Verify would see its labor force dry up and its crops rot in the field.

"They can't get it done for half price if they pass this bill, what sucks for Florida and all of us is only a handful of people get rich off illegals, It's really time to go after the people hiring IA's, Sorry Florida!

Too much of Florida's economy relies on illegal workers. So they aren't going anywhere except back to the hotel rooms, the construction sites, the restaurant kitchens and the vegetable fields.

A similar argument is being used in Georgia by the Ag Industry….D.A. King offers up this argument:



http://thedustininmansociety.org/blog/?p=3909

Guest Column - D.A. King: Broader Immigration Story Gets Short Shrift From Media


By D.A. King

There is currently much consternation and hand wringing over the fact that the Georgia legislature may actually move to protect jobs by clamping down on illegal hiring. But the entire story is not making it out of Georgia newsrooms.

The argument du jour from the usual suspects opposed to enforcement is that Georgia would somehow lose its agriculture industry if we comply with the federal law making employment of illegal aliens well, you know…illegal.

While the media has faithfully reported on the agriculture angle, the existence of the legal alternative to continuing to hire black-market farm laborers who have escaped capture at our borders has so far eluded mention.

It is something called the H2A agricultural worker visa. You read it here first.

This agricultural program establishes lawful means for agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring an unlimited number (no ceiling!) of temporary foreign workers into the United States.

But the grateful, legal, temporary workers must be treated with dignity and respect. Employers must provide free housing that meets lawful safety and health standards and provide workers’ compensation insurance to workers at no cost to the worker.

The wage for H2A workers must be the same as that for U.S. workers. The rate must also be at least as high as the applicable prevailing wage rate.

The employer must provide either three meals a day to each worker or furnish free and convenient cooking and kitchen facilities for workers to prepare their own meals. If meals are provided, then the employer may charge each worker a certain amount per day for the three meals.

These requirements make pliable and desperate illegals considerably more profitable to use. And there is little fear of federal punishment.

An H2A visa is usually issued for a period of one year, and can be extended by two one-year extensions for a maximum of three years. Then the temporary workers must return to the home country – making them poor prospects for creating a resentful “oppressedâ€

Lets hold on for a minute and not rush to judgment. Governor Rick Scott issued an executive order that requires all state agencies to use E-verify to check immigration status of all workers employed by and I believe funded by the state of Florida. This is huge, enormous, historical and in Florida, unprecedented.

There is a group of members of the Florida General Assembly who are working on an AZ immigration law which if like Arizona's will make it a crime under the laws of Arizona to hire illegal aliens.

Rick Scott is the Governor. He has done what he can do legally. He has no authority under Florida law to fine or shut down any business in Florida for not E-verifying their employees. He doesn't even have the authority as Governor to mandate businesses use E-verify. He needs state or federal legislation to do that. We know Republicans are working hard in Florida to pass a law that would enable him to do what he wants to do and we also know that our Republicans in Congress are working hard as well to pass legislation that would make E-verify mandatory for businesses in the United States. At either point whether on the state level or the federal level, there is legislation that mandates E-verify, then I'm certain Rick Scott will not only sign the bill into law, he will enforce the law.

Originally Posted by Judy

Lets hold on for a minute and not rush to judgment. Governor Rick Scott issued an executive order that requires all state agencies to use E-verify to check immigration status of all workers employed by and I believe funded by the state of Florida. This is huge, enormous, historical and in Florida, unprecedented.

Thanks for this info. IMO anything is better than nothing, because once the anti-illegals process starts, Floridians will know that there's at least hope for them.
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American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

Originally Posted by Judy

Lets hold on for a minute and not rush to judgment. Governor Rick Scott issued an executive order that requires all state agencies to use E-verify to check immigration status of all workers employed by and I believe funded by the state of Florida. This is huge, enormous, historical and in Florida, unprecedented.

There is a group of members of the Florida General Assembly who are working on an AZ immigration law which if like Arizona's will make it a crime under the laws of Arizona to hire illegal aliens.

Rick Scott is the Governor. He has done what he can do legally. He has no authority under Florida law to fine or shut down any business in Florida for not E-verifying their employees. He doesn't even have the authority as Governor to mandate businesses use E-verify. He needs state or federal legislation to do that. We know Republicans are working hard in Florida to pass a law that would enable him to do what he wants to do and we also know that our Republicans in Congress are working hard as well to pass legislation that would make E-verify mandatory for businesses in the United States. At either point whether on the state level or the federal level, there is legislation that mandates E-verify, then I'm certain Rick Scott will not only sign the bill into law, he will enforce the law.

Scott has backed off a proposal to require private employers to use E-Verify.