McCollum, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor in Florida, said that
although the bill was harsher with undocumented immigrants than that of Arizona –which raised the criticism of civil rights groups and the White House itself-, it didn´t have the elements that had hindered its enforcement before, since a detailed study was carried out to avoid challenges by the courts.

According to McCollum, the proposal –drafted together with Republican William Snyder- does not authorize police officers to carry out racial profiling, which has been the strongest criticism against the Arizona bill.

“This is our own law, not theirs. And I think when we’re done passing this law, Arizona is going to want our law. They’re going to want to pass our law, because we’re better, we’re stronger, we’re tougher, and we’re fairer”, said Florida´s Attorney General according to Democracy Now.

The aim with this legislation is to stop Florida –the US state that receives more immigrants in the country- from being a “sanctuary state for illegal aliens”, according to McCollum.

If this bill is passed, immigrants will be required to carry valid documentation or face up to 20 days in jail. In addition, police officers will have to ask people they suspect being undocumented immigrants for their documentation.

Also, the new legislation would require businesses to use a national registry of employees to make sure their workers are legal residents, and those illegal immigrants who work or look for a job in the US would be considered criminals.

Several US media have reported that similar legislations are being analyzed in other states, since Republicans have realized that there is increasing support for their policies among the US population when they propose a stricter policy against immigration.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shapeshift/