Florida senators held the first in a series of meetings Monday dealing with illegal immigration, with the goal of crafting legislation that will help the state enforce immigration laws and reduce social costs.
Many legislators said during the recent campaign season that they favor passing a law similar to the recent controversial immigration law passed in Arizona. During the meeting, however, senators were warned that parts of that law have already been struck down in the courts, and the federal government claims jurisdiction over laws dealing with immigration.
Immigration law is exclusively federal law. State laws that deal with immigration face preemption challenges, said Ediberto Roman, a law professor at Florida International University.
Several immigration bills have already been filed, including four in the Senate alone. One filed by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, is similar to the Arizona law, as is another filed in the House by Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart.
Bennett and other senators expressed frustration with the federal government for not doing enough to enforce immigration laws. He was surprised to hear that the government cant easily deport felons who are illegal aliens.
Once theyre picked up they have to go through an administrative process to determine if they are in fact in the country illegally, said Ralph Bradley, resident agent in charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tallahassee office.
Ive never seen anything so convoluted. I dont understand why you all dont speed up the process. Thats why you have all these states trying to pass these laws ... because the federal government isnt doing its job, Bennett said.
Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, agreed, dismissing the argument that businesses that hire unauthorized workers share responsibility for the problem and stating that immigrants need to be stopped at the border.
I dont take the approach that its all the fault of the business community. The problem starts when we get immigrants coming into the U.S. illegally, Thrasher said.
But a program used by employers to screen for unauthorized workers, E-Verify, also drew the ire of legislators, who didnt like the restrictions placed on its use and the fact that it is limited to employment verification, and doesnt aid in deportation. Federal laws prevent employers from using E-Verify before a job offer is extended or accepted, or to verify the citizenship or immigration status of current employees. Only after a job offer has been accepted by an employee may E-Verify be used.
Frankly I would disregard the rules as an employer. I guarantee you some clown is going to go down and file for unemployment after he is fired for being an unauthorized worker, said Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla.
Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said there are more immigration meetings to come, and despite the campaign rhetoric she wants to hear all sides of the issue in framing any legislation.
The first meeting is informational. The most important thing we want is input from the public, whether you are on one side of the issue or the other, Flores said.
According to data from the Pew Hispanic Center and the Department of Homeland Security, there are between 10.6 and 11.6 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States, and between 600,000 and 725,000 unauthorized immigrants in Florida -- about 3.75 percent of the population.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
