Bondi Backs Arizona-Style Immigration Law for Fla.

Pam Bondi, one of the three Republican candidates for attorney general in Florida, would support an Arizona-style immigration law in Florida.

The Arizona law requires law enforcement officers who have stopped people for possible legal violations to check on their immigration status if the officers suspect they are here illegally.

“I believe it’s constitutional,” Bondi, an assistant state attorney and legal analyst for Fox News and MSNBC, told Newsmax.TV.

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“It protects against pretext stops,” she said, referring to a stop of someone for questionable reasons just to check their immigration status.

“One of worst things we can do is racial profiling. We are a country made up of great immigrants,” Bondi said. “But this law is necessary. Arizona Gov. [Jan] Brewer begged for help from the federal government. It’s a federal issue. They [the Obama administration] chose to put climate control over border control on their agenda, and did nothing to help Arizona.”

Florida has similar problems to Arizona, with so many illegal drugs and firearms entering the state from Mexico, Bondi said. From what she knows of the new immigration bill proposed by Republican state Rep. Bill Snyder, she supports it.

Bondi also vehemently opposes Obama's new federal healthcare law.

“It forces us to purchase a good just by being alive. If we don’t purchase that good, they’re going to fine or penalize us. That’s a violation of our 10th Amendment rights. They have no legal authority to do that under the commerce clause.”

The Constitution gives the federal government the right to regulate interstate commerce.

“President Obama said early on it’s not a tax. Now he’s saying it is a tax, because the federal government can regulate taxes under the commerce clause,” Bondi said.

Just how bad is the new law?

“It’s the most expansive, divisive entitlement program ever produced in our country,” Bondi said. “It ignores decades of legal precedents. Of course we need healthcare reform, but this isn’t the way to do it.”

As the only candidate in the race who has practiced law for 20 years, Bondi said she’s uniquely qualified to handle this issue. She’s ready to take over for current Attorney General Bill McCollum, who has filed suit with 19 other state attorneys general to have the law overturned.

“I take on murderers. I’ll take on the federal government and this healthcare law,” Bondi said. “I met with almost all the other Republican attorneys general around the country already. I would be honored to take the ball and run with it.”

Bondi says she’s extremely honored by the endorsement she recently received from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. “I think it means a tremendous amount,” Bondi said.

“She’s a great American, a great family person, a great woman for our country and a true role model, not only for women but for everyone in our country.”