Attorney General Bill McCollum, locked in a bitter contest with health-care executive Rick Scott for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, focused on immigration Wednesday in Orlando, proposing a new law similar to one that passed in Arizona. The Scott campaign, meanwhile, fired back with a new commercial, quoting McCollum saying he supported bringing the Arizona law to Florida and then showing the attorney general saying just the opposite.

Joined by Republican members of the House, McCollum praised a bill being introduced by Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, who was in attendance.

Snyder’s proposal, which he drafted with McCollum's help, mandates that police officers check the status of suspected illegal aliens during stops and would mandate businesses in Florida to use the federal E-Verify software to ensure that every new employee is a legal resident.

Earlier in the month, McCollum introduced a measure in the Cabinet to have the state use E-Verify, a program first introduced by the federal government in 1997 when considering hiring new employees. It passed unanimously, with Gov. Charlie Crist, an independent candidate in November‘s U.S. Senate election, and Democratic gubernatorial front-runner Alex Sink backing McCollum‘s proposal.

The measure also requires immigrants to have their paperwork on them or face up to 20 days in jail.

“This legislation will provide new enforcement tools for protecting our citizens and will help our state fight the ongoing problems created by illegal immigration,” said McCollum. “Florida will not be a sanctuary state for illegal aliens.”

Said Snyder, “Floridians want to see their elected officials provide leadership to the challenges of illegal aliens living in our state. This proposal is a significant step forward in confronting illegal immigration.”

The Scott team left no doubt about its take on McCollum's support of the bill.

“Today’s immigration proposal from Bill McCollum serves as just another example of why he can’t be trusted,” said Jennifer Baker, a spokeswoman for Scott. “Besides flip-flopping on his support of Arizona’s legislation, the desperate career politician rushed to present a plan that on Monday he said would be coming in ‘a couple of weeks.’ It’s clear the only way to get McCollum to take any action on anything is when he’s down in the polls.”

Scott has attempted to make political hay out of  McCollum’s position on immigration and released a new television commercial on Wednesday arguing that the attorney general has been less than consistent in his support of bringing a law to Florida similar to the one in Arizona.

“I think Arizona has its own unique problems,” McCollum said in the Scott ad. “I don’t think Florida should enact laws like this, that are quite that far out.”

The Scott commercial then includes a clip of McCollum saying he never said that.

 

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.