Florida legislator says he supports an Arizona-style immigration law

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Calls for an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigration are gaining ground in Florida, the state with the third-highest population of illegal immigrants.

The state House's top legislator on criminal-justice issues said he wants to see legislation to mirror Arizona's illegal-immigration law. It requires police to check the immigration status of people they stop if they reasonably suspect them to be in the state illegally.

"I would absolutely, 100 percent, unequivocally support an Arizona law," said Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, a former police officer and chairman of the Criminal and Civil Justice Committee. "The state has its own sovereignty and we have a right to participate in federal efforts to stop illegal immigration."

Snyder, a former police officer in Miami and Stuart, said illegal immigration is also a human-rights issue. Migrant workers are "underpaid, they're not insured, they're really taken advantage of," Snyder said.

The state should be trying to stop people from being here illegally, whether they're Irish immigrants or Latino immigrants, he said.

"I think people like to cast this as right-wing. That's not the issue," he said. "It has nothing to do with race."

Even though Florida has a high concentration of illegal immigrants, the issue has not been a priority in the Republican-led Legislature. Efforts to crack down on illegal immigration, such as a bill two years ago to deport some state prisoners, haven't gone anywhere.

That might be changing.

"I think they're going to try to do something like that, because it's a nice, hot-button topic," said Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek. "It'll bring racial profiling to a new level, especially in South Florida, where we have a tremendous amount of Hispanics. I think it's going to cause major problems."

Rick Scott, a Naples multimillionaire and Republican candidate for governor, has made illegal immigration a centerpiece of his campaign.

In his latest TV ad, Scott pledges to bring the Arizona law to Florida and criticizes his Republican primary opponent, Attorney General Bill McCollum, for not wanting to do the same. McCollum supports the Arizona law, but says it's not needed in Florida.

"Rick Scott backs Arizona's law. He'll bring it to Florida and let our police check if the people they arrest are here legally," the ad says.

The leading Democratic candidate for governor, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, opposes the Arizona law. Sink said it "unfairly discriminates against U.S. citizens, residents and lawful visitors."

"American citizens should not be made to fear that their citizenship will come into question during a routine traffic stop," Sink said through her spokeswoman, Kyra Jennings.

Sink said the federal government needs to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul.

In Arizona, police are not allowed to use race, color or national origin in enforcing the law. But immigrant advocates worry it will lead to profiling anyway.

More than half — 58 percent — of Floridians support the law, according to a poll this month.

In 2008, Florida had an illegal-immigrant population of 850,000, the third largest in the country behind California and Texas, according to the Department of Homeland Security.