An Immigration Law Alternative in Florida

The latest news out of Florida is that strict immigration laws, a la Arizona sb1070, will not see the light of the sunshine state’s day. It’s really not that far-fetched a thing, 29 immigration bills have been stopped in committee since 2007. The only one that’s made it through is the one that’s gaining support across Florida’s legislature: E-Verify, that’s when employers must verify the resident status of every new hire.

Proponents of the law say that it eliminates both the opportunity and fear of racial profiling. It’s called the Florida Citizens Employment Protection Act,  and this is how it works, according to sunshinestatenews.com:

It “would mandate that all employers use the federal E-Verify program to screen prospective employees’ legal status to work in this country. It also would suspend the business licenses of companies that refuse to sign an affidavit declaring they have no illegal aliens working for them.”

Social Security and Homeland Security databases would flag the names of new hires suspected of not being eligible for employment.

But some immigration hardliners in Florida are intent on adding AZ sb1070-type language to the  FCEPA, and that’s a non-starter for many legislators, especially in light of the recent GOP moderates convention in Miami where attracting Latino voters was the topic of main concern.

According to Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican who retired from Congress last year, “if [the Republican Party] becomes perceived as an anti-immigrant party, America, being a country of immigrants, will never allow us to be the majority party.”

I wonder if Rick Perry is listening.

So, is E-Verify an acceptable option for immigration reform? Tell us what you’re thinking.