Pridemore said the bill was written in solidarity with Arizona and that he wants to make sure to dissuade criminals that fled that state in the wake of tougher enforcement from coming to Wisconsin.

"This is an action that should have begun long ago when the federal government and the current administration stopped efforts to secure our borders," Pridemore said in a statement. "Now that the illegal drug trade and human trafficking have put the lives and property of those along our borders in peril, we must do all we can to dissuade the criminal element from looking at Wisconsin as a safe haven."

More than half of the states in the union have taken up measures similar to Arizona, but most have failed to muster enough support for passage. Only Utah and Georgia have passed immigration bills similar to the Arizona law.

Wisconsin's version doesn't appear to be an urgent issue for state GOP lawmakers either. Andrew Welhouse, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, said while GOP leadership expects to eventually have a discussion on Pridemore's bill, there are no plans to move on the bill in the "immediate future." Spokesmen for both Gov. Scott Walker and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald have said they are focused on the budget and job creation for the time being.