FL: Immigration Views Divide Candidates, Voters

Neighbor or Nuisance?
Immigration Views Divide Candidates, Voters
By Gary White
THE LEDGER


Published: Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 8:18 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 8:18 p.m.

Florida does not share a land border with a foreign country, but that hasn't stopped skirmishes over illegal immigration from spilling into the battle to determine the state's next governor.

Both major-party candidates, Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Alex Sink, address immigration in their platforms. The rivals largely agree on measures Florida should take to deal with illegal immigrants, such as requiring companies to verify the legal status of employees and punishing companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers.

Scott and Sink part ways, however, in their attitudes toward the controversial Arizona law known as SB 1070 that requires immigrants to carry documents and directs law-enforcement officers to check the legal status of residents they encounter.

Scott has said he supports adopting a similar law in Florida.

Sink opposes such a law, saying state and local law enforcement officers should not be asked to handle border enforcement, which she says is the responsibility of the federal government.

There are about 10.8 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States, according to 2009 figures from the Department of Homeland Security. DHS says Florida has the third-highest population with an estimated 720,000. Other groups put the number at about 1 million.

In Polk County, where 16.3 percent of the population is Hispanic and the agriculture industry depends heavily on migrant workers, questions about illegal immigrants evoke strong feelings.

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The problem with Florida is the mentality of some of the people. I am a legal immigrant from Canada and was rasied by eastern European immigrants. To me if you are from either country illegally it is wrong. In the Hisapnic community depending on when they immigrated and the conditions depends on how they look at it. If people came from Cuba from the Mariel Boatlift or under the wetfoot dryfoot policy they think different than those that had a harder time coming here. Those who came before the 80's are mostly against amnesty while the others are more for it. If people immigrated here legally from many Central and South American countries the majority of them are also against illegals. In the Miami Herald comments regarding illegals you see how they think. The biggest problem is many of the Cubans who came from the 80's on look at is as they are picking on fellow Hispanics and tell other Cubans who are against off.