Scott opposed amnesty but supported in-state tuition

Rick Scott portrayed himself as tough on illegal immigration during his 2010 Republican primary campaign for governor.

After he won the general election, Scott quickly broke two immigration related promises: to bring an Arizona-style immigration law to Florida and to require all Florida employers to use a federal E-Verify system. Ultimately, he simply stopped talking about the Arizona law.

However, Scott did keep one immigration promise early in his tenure: fighting "amnesty."

Just weeks before he took office, then Gov.-elect Scott spoke against a DREAM Act bill in Congress that critics said amounted to amnesty for some illegal immigrants, and he made similar comments to the press during his first year in office. That was enough to earn Scott a Promise Kept in January 2012.

Since then, amnesty was back in the news as federal legislators considered an immigration bill. In 2013, Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio was part of a bipartisan group that introduced legislation with a 13-year pathway to legal status and eventually citizenship. Rubio claimed that his bill wasn't amnesty -- which PolitiFact ruled Half True.

The bill passed the Senate but stalled in the Republican-led House.

Scott addressed Rubio's bill when asked about it by the press. "I think Senator Rubio has really done a great job focusing on the discussion, making sure we have an immigration policy that works," he said. "I'm happy that he's really focused on securing our borders and having a policy that we all understand."

Scott made those comments shortly after he vetoed a bill to give drivers' licenses to so-called "DREAMers" -- those who came to the U.S. illegally as children.

In 2014, House speaker Will Weatherford pushed for a bill to allow children who came to the U.S. illegally to get in-state tuition for college. The bill also included a priority of Scott's: getting rid of the up to 15 percent tuition differential that allowed universities to hike up costs. Ultimately, Scott signed the bill.

But lowering tuition for these students isn't the same as legalizing their status.

Numbers USA, a group that advocates for low immigration, considers in-state tuition a "reward and incentive for illegal immigration but not as a kind of amnesty," said the group's executive director Roy Beck.

"Generally, we reserve the term 'amnesty' for actions that offer legal status and/or work permits to people who have violated immigration laws," Beck said.

A Scott campaign spokesman declined to comment when we asked if Scott still opposes amnesty and if he could point to any examples of him fighting amnesty since 2012.

As for our rating, Scott's promise to "fight amnesty for lawbreakers" was so broad and vague, he didn't have to do much to keep it. Scott toned down his rhetoric on illegal immigration, but he continues to oppose it.

We're keeping our rating on this promise the same: Promise Kept.