6 bills will delve into immigrant matters

If they pass, the state would make living and working in Florida more difficult for those people here illegally.

Jose Cardenas
St. Petersburg Times
January 2, 2008

In the two years since immigration legislation stalled in Congress, many states have passed their own laws targeting illegal immigrants.

Soon Florida could join them.

Legislators have filed six bills that would, among other things, penalize farms and government contractors that hire undocumented immigrants or require local officials to report their arrests to federal authorities. Come spring, legislators could debate whether to make it harder for an estimated 850,000 illegal immigrants to live and work in Florida.

"Our federal government, in my opinion, has failed our citizens in dealing with the crisis of illegal immigration," said state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, who filed two bills.

The Florida bills follow a trend of cities and states proposing local laws related to immigration.

The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that last year, more than 1,500 pieces of legislation were introduced in state legislatures. Of those, 244 became laws in 46 states, triple the number passed in 2006.

Nationally, the proposals touch predominantly on employment, law enforcement, drivers licenses and public benefits.