Does Immigration Reform Have a Prayer? Sen. Alexander and Pastor Stand in Way

Immigration-control proponents are pointing a finger at Sen. J.D. Alexander as a stumbling block to passage of an E-Verify bill.

As CEO of the agricultural concern Alico Inc., the Lake Wales Republican has said using the federal database would cost him $20 per hire. That figure, which could not be independently confirmed, was Alexander's latest tack against Senate Bill 2040, which would require employers to use E-Verify to screen new workers.

Prior to Alexander's ascension, a report listed Alico as a primary user of illegal labor. See the report here.

Last week, the Budget Committee chairman failed to schedule the bill for a hearing, but he did find time to meet and pray with migrants who held daily vigils in efforts to block any immigration-control legislation.

The Senate, which is scheduled to hear SB 2040 Tuesday, began the morning with an invocation by a Tallahassee pastor who urged lawmakers to remember "the least of our children [who] pick our crops and provide food for our tables."

The smart money, as first reported here last week, is on a diluted bill that will only require state agencies to use E-Verify, exempting private-sector businesses.

Alexander was not immediately available for comment.

Meantime, Manuel Pintado, a self-described political activist, reportedly will plead no contest Tuesday to felony charges of e-mailing a threat to state Rep. Bill Snyder over the Stuart Republican's immigration-enforcement measure, HB 7089.

Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers said Pintado will likely received five years' probation for his e-mail that told Snyder: You better just stop that ridiculous law if you value you rand your families lives (expletive).