Although they've been receiving significant pushback from business interests in the state, a new poll on Floridians attitudes about immigration laws just published should make Miami Republican state Senator Anitere Flores a little more confident this Thursday.
The Suffolk University poll finds a bare majority (51 percent) support an Arizona like immigration bill. 33 percent oppose it, while 8 percent give the Goldilocks response - that the laws currently on the books are just right.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the bill is much less popular amongst blacks and Latinos than among white voters. Suffolk interviewed 600 registered voters last week.
Flores is sponsoring a bill in the Senate that would mandate that police check the immigration status of prison inmates, and would give employers "wiggle room" (to quote the Miami Herald/St.Pete Times) for employers on how to determine if employees are legally allowed to work.
It's less harsh than a House bill sponsored by Republican Will Snyder, which would require police to check the immigration status of a person who is subject of a criminal investigation if there is “reasonable suspicion” that the person might be undocumented. Employers would be mandated to check employees’ immigration status, though E-Verify. Senate President Mike Haridopolos has said he wishes Flores would put E-Verify back in her bill.
