Lake Worth City Commissioner Chris McVoy joined immigrants in the Capitol rotunda Thursday afternoon to urge lawmakers to abandon immigration reform even as the developing Senate bill remains in limbo.

The city commission this week reaffirmed its opposition to any Arizona-style bill like the one proposed by the Florida House (HB 7089).

McVoy said the local officials object to the bill for humanitarian and financial reasons as well as concerns about public safety.

An Arizona-style bill could have a devastating economic impact because Lake Worth has so many Hispanic residents, McVoy said.

“These folks work. They spend money in the community. They pay taxes in the community,” said McVoy, who was elected in November.

The House package would allow law enforcement officials to request proof of immigration status during routine traffic stops, something that could be a huge financial burden to the city, McVoy said. And it could threaten the relationship police officers have with the Latino community whose members would be more disinclined to report crimes if the measure becomes law, he said.

McVoy and others said they want the bill to include a pathway to citizenship similar to the guestworker program recently adopted in Utah.

A fiscal analysis by the left-leaning Center for American Progress found the immigration reforms could cost up the state and businesses up to $45 billion, including $1 billion in implementation costs. (more…)

The Florida Senate will be in session on Saturday, Senate President Mike Haridopolos said.

Haridopolos has ordered the rare weekend session to try to finish up work before the scheduled end of the legislative session next Friday.

“We want to give everyone the opportunity on a bill to have their voice heard. I think that’s worked out very well for us. It’s reduced a lot of the tension,” said Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island.

Haridopolos, who is running for U.S. Senate, said that lawmakers would be in town anyway as they negotiate differences between the two chambers’ budgets and other priority bills.

“It just makes sense that we would have a Saturday session and make the best use our time since we’re all going to be here anyway,” he said.

Adding to the delay is a postponement to a Senate Budget Committee meeting where an immigration package hangs in the balance as GOP leaders from the House and Senate try to work out a deal with Gov. Rick Scott before taking a floor vote.

That meeting won’t meet today, Haridopolos said, but could meet tomorrow, making it possible the Senate could take up its immigration proposal on Saturday.

Clad in black caps and gowns, a handful of college students are sitting it out in Senate President Mike Haridopolos’ waiting room trying to get him to promise to oppose immigration reform.

They may have a long wait, however.

Haridopolos’ spokesman David Bishop said the president is too busy during the last few days of the legislative session to meet again with the immigrants and their advocates. Yesterday, Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, made an impromptu visit with dozens of Palm Beach County immigrants, including children, who pleaded with him to publicly denounce the House and Senate plans to crack down on illegal immigration.

The student sit-in is part of an all-out push to convince lawmakers to drop immigration reform before the session ends on May 6.

St. Thomas University student Felipe Matos, an undocumented immigrant from Brazil and one of the leaders of the group, said he and his cohorts would stay as long as the building was open.

“We’re going to stay seated. We’re not here to confront anyone,” Matos said as Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Donald Severance cleared the room of those sitting on the floor.

Matos is trying to get Haridopolos to sign a pledge to oppose HB 7089 and SB 2040. Both bills are currently stalled as lawmakers await Gov. Rick Scott’s input on the measures. Scott has said he wants to give law enforcement officers the ability to ask for proof of immigration but has not elaborated on how far he thinks the law should go. Scott is expected to reveal more about his plans today.

Haridopolos, who removed the doors to his inner office after assuming the helm of the Senate as a symbol of his openness, won’t sign the pledge, Bishop said.

“This is a symbol that he’s against us,” said Matos.

National immigrant advocates issued a press release calling for a boycott of Florida unless the bills are abandoned, Matos said.

“We want to make sure Florida doesn’t get seen as anti-Latino, anti-employment. This is a job killer,” he said.

Dozens of immigrants from Palm Beach County, accompanied by their children and grandchildren, got on a bus in Lake Worth at 11 p.m. to travel to the Capitol as part of a week-long effort by hundreds of immigrants now swarming the Capitol.

The immigrants, their children and advocates are pleading with lawmakers to abandon an Arizona-like immigration reform now under consideration in both the House and Senate.

More than a dozen women and children met with Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Wellington, for nearly 30 minutes. Both the women and the senator emerged in tears.

Leonila, an undocumented restaurant worker from Mexico who lives in West Palm Beach, shared her story with Benacquisto. The mother of five, who would not give her last name, told the senator that she was a domestic violence victim who fears that women like her will be even more afraid to get help after they are sexually or physically abused.

“One doesn’t have to think too hard about how that would affect me,” said Benacquisto, who during her campaign last year disclosed that she was raped at the age of 19.

Benacquisto pledged to work with the sponsors of the bill (SB 2040) to include provisions for women who are domestic violence or sexual abuse victims.

“Any victim who needs to ask for assistance at that time needs to have the confidence they can go to someplace safe,” Benacquisto said.

From The News Service of Florida:

“Following two hours of sometimes tearful testimony and despite united opposition from Florida’ business and agricultural community, the House Economic Affairs Committee on Thursday approved a controversial immigration measure (HB 7089) requires employers to verify the status of new hires and allows police to ask criminal suspects to prove they are in the country legally.

The bill passed on an 11-7 vote along party lines, with Republicans winning the day. The bill now travels to the House floor.”

Meanwhile, a Senate committee yesterday postponed a vote on their measure (SB 2040)in hopes of getting Gov. Rick Scott on board. Scott’s insisting that immigration reform allow law enforcement officials to ask for documentation during investigation into illegal activity. But that’s something GOP leaders in the Senate may not have the votes to pass.

Even as business groups are asking lawmakers to back down from proposed immigration reforms, Gov. Rick Scott supports giving law enforcement officers the ability to ask for proof of status when they pull someone over.

The Senate immigration plan does not currently include that component – one of the most controversial features of the Arizona law officials there are now rethinking.

“First off, the federal government needs to secure our borders. Also we need to have a logical immigration policy that works. We need to make sure that there’s a process for people that want to come into our country to work for a short period of time to work that they can go home, that’s step one. We’ve got to work with the federal government to do that. Step two, if somebody’s in our country and doing something illegally, they should be asked if they’re legal or not if they’re stopped by law enforcement. So that’s where my big focus is,” Scott told reporters this morning.

Yesterday, Scott joined forces with some of the same business groups, including the Florida Chamber, who formed a new coalition backing the governor’s proposed pension reforms for state workers.

On the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination 43 years ago, immigrants and advocates rallied in the Capitol to protest immigration reforms one said would turn Florida into “67 little Arizonas.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee is hearing a measure (SB 2040) this afternoon that would, among other things, authorize sheriffs to enter agreements with federal officials that would allow them to operate as immigration agents.

That could be dangerous, immigrant advocates cautioned, because that component was the cornerstone of Arizona’s much-maligned immigration reforms, many of which state lawmakers there are now rethinking.

The bill would “county-by-county implement little Arizonas all over Florida,” said Subhash Kateel, an organizer with the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “We don’t need 67 Arizonas in our state.”

Betzy Rega, an American citizen of Guatemalan descent, traveled from Jupiter to attend the hearing.

She said she’s afraid the bill would give the green light to police officers and sheriffs’ deputies for racial profiling.

Rega said her dark-skinned nephew was interrogated by Palm Beach County sheriffs two years ago and accused of kidnapping his own, lighter-skinned son.

Laws like Arizona’s are “feeding into the frenzy of racism,” Rega said. “We’re on a very dangerous track and it’s a form of abuse of power.”

A House committee approved a somewhat watered-down immigration bill that would allow law enforcement officials to demand proof of citizenship during an arrest or criminal investigation and require businesses to verify that employees are in the country legally.

Judiciary Committee Chairman William Snyder, R-Stuart, sponsored the bill (PCB JDC 11-01) included several concessions to business groups and others concerned that an Arizona-style measure, among other things, would scare off tourists.

Unlike Arizona’s law, police would not be allowed to request documentation during traffic stops but would be permitted to request papers during criminal investigations or arrests or if they have a “reasonable suspicion” someone may be engaging in criminal activity.

But the modifications of Snyder’s original proposal did not appease opponents.
(more…)

House Speaker Dean Cannon says he has no immediate political ambition beyond leading the state House the next two years.

But he could have a future as a Texas hold ‘em poker player.

Cannon on Monday unveiled some dramatic House positions on the courts, pill mills, immigration and Medicaid — on the eve of the Legislature’s opening. He also delivered them using what has become a typical Cannon approach: deeply layered policy changes formed with seemingly little attention paid to those most affected.

As a rising House member, Cannon used a similar tactic in advancing measures affecting property taxes, Medicaid and offshore oil-drilling.  But unlike past years, Cannon floated his ideas out early Monday — instead of the waning hours of a legislative session. (more…)

Manuel Pintado, charged with threatening the life of state Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, over Snyder’s immigration bill, is back in Massachusetts after his sister posted a $40,000 bond to free him from the Martin County Jail while he awaits trial, masslive.com reports.

Pintado’s minister told the publication that the 47-year-old University of Massachusetts student didn’t care for the accommodations in Martin County.

“He said the Hampshire County jail is like the Hilton compared to the slum they had for a jail in Florida,” Rev. Mark Seifried said in the article.

STUART — Martin County Circuit Judge Kathleen Roberts today set bond at $450,000 for Manuel Pintado, the self-described “political activist” from Massachusetts accused of threatening state Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, because he disagrees with Snyder’s proposed immigration bill.

Wearing an orange Martin County Jail uniform and glasses, Pintado said “No, your honor,” when Roberts asked if he had any questions after she read the charges and bond amounts and said she had appointed a public defender to represent him. Pintado appeared via closed circuit TV from the jail while Roberts was at the county courthouse.

Pintado, a 47-year-old University of Massachusetts sociology student described by friends as passionate about immigrants’ rights, is accused of sending an e-mail to Snyder that said: “You better just stop that ridiculous law if you value you rand your familie’s lives (expletive).”

Snyder has proposed an Arizona-style immigration law for Florida.

Roberts set a $300,000 bond for the charge of making a written threat to kill or do bodily injury and a $150,000 bond for the charge of corruption by threat.

(more…)

Manuel Pintado, a 47-year-old University of Massachusetts sociology student described by friends as passionate about immigrants’ rights, was taken into custody by Martin County sheriff’s deputies today and will appear before a judge Thursday on charges he threatened the life of state Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart.

Pintado was arrested in Massachusetts on Jan. 31, then released on his own recognizance by a Massachusetts judge on Monday with orders to fly to Florida to face charges. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said two deputies arrested Pintado “without incident” this morning at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.

On Jan. 8 — shortly after the assassination attempt on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., in which six others were killed — Snyder received an unsigned e-mail that said: “You better just stop that ridiculous law if you value you rand your familie’s lives (expletive).”

Snyder has proposed a law cracking down on illegal immigration in Florida similar to a controversial measure in Arizona.

(more…)

Manuel Pintado, the 47-year-old University of Massachusetts sociology student and self-described “political activist” accused of threatening state Rep. William Snyder of Stuart, was released from custody by a Massachusetts judge Monday and ordered to present himself in court in Martin County by Friday morning to face charges.

Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder, who sent detectives to Massachusetts to escort Pintado to Florida, said he’s “baffled” by the judge’s decision and has “grave concerns” that Pintado won’t show up. (Read Crowder’s entire statement after the jump.)

A lengthy article on Pintado in the University of Massachusetts Daily Collegian says friends and relatives describe Pintado as “an amiable pacifist with a passion for immigrants’ rights and state support of public higher education, though they said he suffers from anxiety and could sometimes become swept up in his own dedication and act excitedly.”

The article quotes Pintado’s son-in-law as saying Pintado did something dumb, “right up there with all the teenagers who call in fake bomb threats to their junior high schools and people like Sharron Angle who call for citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights, or Sarah Palin or people who show up to political rallies with nooses and shotguns, but he is not a killer, not even close.”

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Gov. Rick Scott is holding fast to his support for an Arizona-style immigration reform for Florida despite recent comments from state GOP leaders, including Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, that it could be bad for business.

Scott, who campaigned on the issue, said this morning that law enforcement officers should be able to ask for immigration documentation, including during routine traffic stops.

“The federal government needs to secure our borders. We need to have an overall immigration policy that is logical and that works and is fair to Americans and fair to people that want to come to our country that we invite to come to our country,” Scott told reporters this morning.

“At the same time, I also believe that if you’re in our country and you do something illegally, you should be able to be asked just like I get asked for my ID if I ever get a traffic ticket, they should be asked if they’re legal or not. I clearly don’t believe in racial profiling,” Scott said.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said yesterday he does not favor an Arizona-style law.

And Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, fresh from a decade in Congress trying to address the immigration issue, said he believes an Arizona-style law would be bad for tourism and finance in Florida.

The Florida Senate held a low-key information-gathering session on immigration reform late this afternoon, the first in a series of meetings coinciding with immigration legislation currently in the works.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos put Sen. Anitere Flores, a Cuban-American from Miami and chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in charge of three meetings on the controversial topic that legislatures throughout the nation are grappling with.

Today’s meeting included presentations from federal immigration authorities and an update from state education, prison and highway safety officials as well as a law professor from Florida International University.

Flores said she hoped the cerebral kick-off would set the stage for future discussions to be held in “dispassionate and well-informed manner.”

But some lawmakers were clearly frustrated by what they heard.
(more…)

Democratic governor candidate and Florida CFO Alex Sink opposes bringing an Arizona-style crackdown on illegal immigration to Florida. But she also faults the federal government for failing to enforce immigration laws or enact immigration reform.

With polls showing the Arizona law is popular among Florida voters, Sink’s pronouncements on the issue tend to be carefully worded statements that minimize explicit criticism of Arizona while emphasizing her displeasure with Washington.

Sink’s reaction to today’s temporary injunction blocking enforcement of key portions of the Arizona law is no exception.

Read more after the jump….

(more…)

Republican governor hopeful Rick Scott, whose pledge to bring an Arizona-style crackdown on immigration to Florida is a key component of his campaign, criticized a federal judge’s granting of a preliminary injunction today to block the implementation of key parts of the law until a federal lawsuit is resolved.

Scott’s GOP primary rival, Attorney General Bill McCollum, who filed an amicus brief supporting the Arizona law, also slammed the ruling.

Read the Republican reactions after the jump…..

(more…)

Multimillionaire Rick Scott criticizes Attorney General Bill McCollum on immigration in a TV spot that began airing Saturday in the increasingly contentious GOP primary for governor.

McCollum has said he supports Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigration — but doesn’t believe such a law is needed in Florida.

“McCollum — he’s got it wrong. Rick Scott backs Arizona’s law. He’ll bring it to Florida,” the new Scott ad says.

Read about the Arizona law, how it has been tweaked and how it is playing in Florida politics by clicking here.

Republican congressional candidate Allen West recently said two of the Florida GOP’s biggest stars — former Gov. Jeb Bush and Senate candidate Marco Rubio — should be “ashamed” for not supporting Arizona’s controversial new law aimed at curbing illegal immigration.

The Politics column caught up with Bush and Rubio Friday in Pasco County to get their reactions.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column.

Republican Senate hopeful Marco Rubio’s criticism of Arizona’s law attempting to curb illegal immigration represented a break with many conservative base voters. It also highlights a spirited debate on the right over the law and immigration policy.

The Washington Examiner’s Byron York says those, like Rubio, who have qualms about the Arizona law’s “reasonable suspicion” language are ignoring the fact that the law allows police to act on that suspicion only if they have already initiated “lawful contact” with a person, such as for a traffic infraction.

But conservative operative and National Review contributor Cesar Conda says the law gives “enormous discretion” to police and will “cause more problems than it solves.”

Conservative blogger Hugh Hewitt, meanwhile, says Rubio struck “exactly the tone national Republicans ought to take on the debate.”

Here, by the way, is the text of the Arizona law itself. Most of the controversy centers on Section 2, Paragraph B.