Florida Governor Rick Scott is backing away from his campaign promises to pass new laws that would crack down on illegal workers.
The first-term Republican governor said Wednesday that it's up to the federal government to develop some kind of work visa program — a notably different position from his early days in office in 2011, when he called for a state E-Verify program.
"We've got to have a national E-verify program because I don't want to put Florida business at a disadvantage," Scott said following a Wednesday appearance at a Tallahassee Rotary Club meeting. "We need to make sure we have a work visa program that doesn't put Florida businesses at a disadvantage."
Scott's shift comes as presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has struggled with the immigration issue. Romney is counting on a win in Florida, a major swing state with a large immigrant population.
Click here to read a story about Gov. Scott defending the voter purge.
Scott signed an executive order on his first day as governor ordering state agencies to use E-Verify to determine if current or prospective employees are legal. It was also Scott's top priority in the 2011 legislative session, but Florida's Republican-led Legislature balked at passing immigration laws favored by the governor that some described as tougher than those in Arizona.
The governor signed executive orders less than an hour after taking the oath of office on Jan. 4, 2011 that would crack down on the hiring of illegal immigrants and require the governor's agencies to use the federal government's E-Verify system to check all existing and prospective state and contract employees.
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But the Republican-led Florida Legislature adjourned four months later without an agreement on the tough measures sought by the governor and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who both campaigned on tougher immigration laws. Florida tourism officials and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, also a Republican, cautioned that such measures could damage those industries.
Senator JD Alexander, a Lake Wales Republican and the Senate budget chairman, argued that there are many problems with E-Verify and that it is costly for employers.
"The Florida Senate stands up for hardworking folks and doesn't do the politically expedient thing, but does the right thing," said Alexander, a central Florida citrus grower who employs hundreds of migrant farm workers.
Hundreds of immigrants and their supporters also flooded the Legislature for several weeks of the 2011 session to oppose the immigration measures sought by Scott.
