Attacked by Hispanics and ridiculed by the mainstream media, Arizona-style immigration legislation appears to be dead on arrival in Tallahassee this year.

Meanwhile, a different approach that would give skittish Republicans political cover has emerged. The only question is: Will GOP leaders let it pass?

The Florida Citizens Employment Protection Act would mandate that all employers use the federal E-Verify program to screen prospective employees' legal status to work in this country. It also would suspend the business licenses of companies that refuse to sign an affidavit declaring they have no illegal aliens working for them.

Supporters say the Citizens Employment Protection Act avoids the legal and logistical pitfalls of racial profiling and turning local police into immigration agents. By targeting employers, the bill would effectively block illegals from the job market.

Gov. Rick Scott has already signed an executive order implementing E-Verify at all state agencies. Now, lawmakers are maneuvering to extend E-Verify to the private sector.

The E-Verify initiative is not new. Last year, the Florida House passed an E-Verify bill authored by then-Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Oviedo. HB 219 cleared the House 112-0, but was bottled up in the Senate, where  committee Chairman Jeremy Ring refused to let it come up for a hearing.

Adams has moved on to Congress, but Ring, a Democrat from Margate, is back as committee chair this year, and supporters of E-Verify are bracing for battle.

"It's not a complicated issue. We cut off the jobs, and [illegal immigrants] won't come. And those who are here will leave," says Jack Oliver, head of Floridians for Immigration Enforcement (FLIMEN).

But in addition to Ring, immigration-control advocates face pushback from the Hispanic Caucus, including some Republicans, who say enforcement efforts jeopardize the GOP's electoral chances with Latinos.

Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican who retired from Congress last year, told the Hispanic Leadership Network conference this month:

"If [the Republican Party] becomes perceived as an anti-immigrant party, America, being a country of immigrants, will never allow us to be the majority party."

Media pundits have parroted this line. Writing in the Orlando Sentinel on Sunday, columnist Mike Thomas took a swipe at Scott: "It's not like Mexican biologists are sneaking across the border to work for the Department of Environmental Protection."

LEGISLATIVE GAMES: BURDENING A BILL

In some respects, Republican bill minders appear to be their own worst enemies.

While Rep. Gayle Harrell, R-Port St. Lucie, and Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, propose tightly focused E-Verify legislation, other Republicans are maneuvering to attach Arizona-style enforcement wording that would expose the bills to withering political crossfire.

Rep. William Snyder, R-Stuart, has been conducting hearings on his proposal to adopt Arizona's controversial SB 1070, and he shows no signs of backing off. (Not coincidentally, the term-limited Snyder is eyeing a run for Sheriff Bob Crowder's job in Martin County.)

But rather than looking tough on illegal immigration, an attempt to stick Arizona-style language into the Harrell-Hays bills looks more like a ploy to sink E-Verify politically.

"SB 1070 is a bill killer," FLIMEN's Oliver says.

Indeed, Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, now says he would not vote for the Snyder-like bill that he himself plans to sponsor in the Senate.

By contrast, Oliver says, "The Hispanic Caucus should support the Florida Citizens Employment Protection Act because it cannot be used in any way to racially profile people. All employers must use [E-Verify] and all employees must be screened."