Political backlash and public outcry have prompted a compromise between Florida governor Ron DeSantis and the state’s Republican legislators on Florida’s immigration policy, following a prolonged dispute over how to handle illegal aliens. On Monday, newly proposed legislation reintroduces key measures that align more closely with DeSantis’s and President Trump’s immigration strategy.
To advance the bills, DeSantis called for another special session of the Florida Legislature to “enact policies that will help end the illegal immigration crisis once and for all.” He emphasized that he and legislators have collaborated closely to incorporate the best elements from the “various proposals,” aiming to create legislation that would provide the resources to local officials, hold illegal aliens accountable, and partner with the federal government to enforce immigration laws.
The controversy started in late January, when DeSantis convened a special legislative session to advance his strategy for immigration reform. However, the Florida Legislature foiled the governor’s plans, rejecting his more robust immigration provisions. The establishment Republican leaders turned around and introduced a weaker bill, calling it the “Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy,” or the TRUMP Act, a misnomer in populist Republican circles.
Shortly after their shenanigans, DeSantis registered his dissent in a January 27 post on X, calling out Florida legislators for their unserious bill on immigration. He accused them of “gutt[ing]” his proposal of its strongest “interior enforcement provisions.” DeSantis bluntly accused the lawmakers of voting for a bill that was nothing more than “antics,” “theatrics,” and “window dressing.” He then promised to veto the bill.
Specifically, DeSantis’ social media post expressed frustration with a provision in the bill that would strip the governor of immigration enforcement power and place it in the hands of the commissioner of agriculture. He labeled it a “bizarre” decision, arguing that it felt like “the fox guarding the hen house.” He also lamented that the bill failed to include provisions aimed at stopping illegal aliens from voting for good.
“They gutted the interior enforcement provisions that we had where we were all working in unison. It’s not enough to just say we’re not a sanctuary state, which we’re not,” DeSantis added. “It’s not enough to just say we don’t have sanctuary cities, which we don’t. We need everybody on board. We got to work as a team. Otherwise, this stuff just isn’t going to work. They also bizarrely strip immigration enforcement power from the governor and give it to the commissioner of agriculture. But agriculture has not exactly been known for immigration enforcement, so it’s almost like the fox guarding the hen house.”
“It should be a crime for an illegal alien to register to vote. We’ve been trying to do this for years,” DeSantis continued. “Now is the time to do it. They did not include that in their proposal, which was very disappointing. And then we also need to crack down on illegal alien gangs. We had very strong provisions to do that. That was not in what the legislative leaders proposed.”
Other key provisions missing in the Republican bill were efforts to tackle remittances, measures to address bail release for criminal illegal aliens, and a failure to require state law enforcement to cooperate with ICE and other federal officials on deportation.
Governor DeSantis’s original proposal included the following provisions:
- Mandated “maximum participation in the 287(g) deportation program with penalties for non-compliance, including the suspension of officials.”
- Made it a state crime to enter the U.S. illegally and provided a process for self-deportation.
- Appoints a dedicated officer to oversee and cooperate with federal authorities on Florida’s Unauthorized Alien Transport Program (UATP).
- Measures to broaden the legal definition of those involved in dangerous gang-related activities.
- No more in-state tuition for illegal alien students.
- Require voter registration of U.S. citizenship and Florida residency.
- Increase penalties for illegal aliens trying to vote.
- Remittances must include identity verification.
- Deny bail to illegal aliens because of their assumed flight risk.
DeSantis is justified in his push to clamp down on criminal aliens in his state. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement released its 2024 numbers in January, showing that 315 criminal aliens were arrested and subsequently released in Florida alone. More importantly, the data revealed that 94 percent of the criminal aliens released “had one or more violent crimes in their criminal history.” Twelve percent of those released “are sexual predators or had committed sexual assault, 29 percent of the criminal aliens released were convicted drug offenders, and 3 percent had been “federally charged with re-entry to the U.S.”
Monday’s compromise package includes much of DeSantis’s original proposal, though it seems that an agreement could not be reached on remittance requirements.
The Florida House Budget Committee met Wednesday morning to vote on the three-bill package. DeSantis praised legislators for “stepping up to get the job done.”
The first of the three bills to be considered was Senate Bill 2C/House Bill 1C, a bill that makes it a felony for illegal aliens who “willfully” vote or encourage a noncitizen to vote. SB2C/HB1C also includes many of DeSantis’s provisions, such as
- Prohibiting the Department of Safety and Motor Vehicles from issuing a driver license or identification cards to illegal aliens.
- Creating a State Board of Immigration Enforcement within the Department of Law Enforcement, consisting of the governor and the commissioner of agriculture, the attorney general, and Florida’s chief financial officer and requiring that all decisions made by the board be unanimous.
- Ending in-state tuition for illegal aliens.
- Requiring county jails to provide the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the immigration status of inmates.
- Mandating that the attorney general initiate judicial proceedings to enforce federal immigration detainers, including penalties for local officials who refuse to “comply with an immigration detainer issued by a federal immigration agency.”
During the same February 12 session, the House Budget Committee also voted on SB4C/HB3C and SM6C/HM5C, in addition to SB1C/HB1C.
SB4C/HB3C SB4C/HB3C introduces criminal penalties for illegal aliens who enter the state after evading immigration officers, imposes enhanced penalties for subsequent convictions, and excludes illegal aliens from eligibility for civil citations or diversion programs. The bill also mandates the death penalty for unauthorized aliens convicted of capital felonies.
SM6C/HM5C, companion bills entitled Immigration Guidance and Training Opportunities, is a “memorial” urging the secretary of Homeland Security to provide the necessary guidance to “ensure cooperation and coordination with 287(g) agreements” to help state and local officials combat the “unprecedented flow of illegal immigration to the United States.”
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, the new package is projected to cost around $285 million — approximately half the cost of the TRUMP Act proposal for Florida taxpayers.
Image: Ron DeSantis. Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Jesus Christ is King
Comments are closed.