A Senate committee relaxed a proposed bill requirement that all employers use a federal computer system to verify the immigration status of new hires.
Miami Herald: Score one for business in the latest round of debate over proposed immigration reform in the Florida Senate. A committee Monday relaxed a requirement that the state and all private employers check the immigration status of any prospective employee by using the federal government’s e-Verify system. The condition, a favorite among tea-party types who supported Gov. Rick Scott, faced stiff opposition from big business, agricultural interests and immigration advocates who questioned e-Verify’s effectiveness. Under the new version of the bill, sponsored by Miami Republican Sen. Anitere Flores, employers would be able to bypass e-Verify by requiring new hires to present identifying documents such as an unexpired U.S. passport or Florida driver’s license, which are not issued to undocumented workers. But that doesn’t mean that the bill, one of several Arizona-style proposals making their way through the Legislature this session, has appeased all of its critics. They fear other provisions on the law would result in racial profiling by law enforcement officers empowered to enforce federal immigration regulations. “This is not the way to do immigration reform,” said Susana Barciela of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. She spoke at a rally held by a broad coalition of religious and immigration leaders outside Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Miami Monday morning. Last week, a group of church leaders from across the state, including Bishop Leo Frade of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida, sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to reject immigration bills that would “inflict trauma across Florida communities” and “inflame hostile rhetoric in society.”
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