Gov. Scott’s legislative agenda in Fla. includes immigration enforcement

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports today that an immigration enforcement bill is one of several items Gov. Rick Scott has on his “controversial legislative agenda.” The Sentinel adds that during the 2011 legislative session, “Scott and the House wanted to require companies to use the federal E-Verify program to check employees’ immigration status and require cops to check the legal status of anyone being investigated for a crime.”

Scott recently said at RedState Gathering 2011, an event for conservative politicians and organizations, that he “tried to get an [immigration] bill passed last year. It got through the Senate. It didn’t make it through the House. It will happen this session.”

One of Rick Scott’s first acts as governor was to sign an executive order requiring that all state agencies — and all companies that enter into contracts with state agencies — use E-Verify to check the employment eligibility of their workers.

The Sun Sentinel adds that “the Senate balked at the E-Verify provisions and passed a bill that simply allowed law enforcement to investigate the immigration status of anyone arrested in connection with a crime.”

The House version, much harsher and more similar to provisions in Arizona’s notorious Senate Bill 1070, technically died after it wasn’t heard on the floor during the 2011 legislative session.

The Miami Herald reported Tuesday that Senate President Mike Haridopolis said, “We have a bill that is very tough on illegal immigration. It’s in the House’s court. If they want to do something we’re poised and ready.”