TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Governor Ron DeSantis held a news conference Monday morning to call the legislature into a special session to address immigration, hurricane relief and the current amendment process.
Press play above to re-watch the full news conference
DeSantis began Monday’s news conference with an urgent call for a special session starting the week of Jan. 27 to add new duties and funding to help enforce President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration policies that are expected to go into effect on day one of his presidency.
“We need to act quickly,” DeSantis said. “We don’t have time to waste. The American people spoke very clearly of all the issues out there, and there were a lot of very important issues. This issue with the border and illegal immigration was one of the top issues in the 2024 election, and has been one of the top issues that we’ve had in this country for many, many years.”
Trump is preparing more than 100 executive orders starting day one of the new White House administration, in what amounts to a shock-and-awe campaign on border security, deportations and a rush of other policy priorities.
DeSantis said the state needs additional measures to ensure people are held accountable for violating “anti-sanctuary policies” and to make sure local governments are complying with the state and federal immigration laws.
“Florida needs to make sure that we don’t have any lingering incentives for people to come into our state illegally,” DeSantis said.
The governor also said he’s prepared to suspend elected officials from office if they are “neglecting their duties” under the new immigration mandates and that he would consider activating the Florida National Guard and the Florida State Guard to carry out in-state enforcement measures. DeSantis said he anticipates allocating tens of millions of dollars in new funding to help state and local officials expand their enforcement and detention efforts.
“We have a responsibility to act, and we will,” DeSantis said.
MORE | Gov. DeSantis signs 3 bills aimed at addressing illegal immigration in Florida
Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani, Orlando (D), posted a statement on X in response to DeSantis’ call for a special session.
“This special session is not about helping Floridians—it’s about grabbing national headlines and doubling down on divisive, partisan rhetoric,” the statement says in part.
My statement in response to the Governor DeSantis call for a Special Session the week of Jan. 27th: pic.twitter.com/lWtgDcwZ82
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, PhD 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) January 13, 2025
During Monday’s news conference, DeSantis also called on Florida lawmakers to pass hurricane relief, work on reforms for the state’s condominium market, which has seen rising prices following a safety law passed by state lawmakers in 2022 in the wake of the Surfside collapse, which killed 98 people in June 2021.
“At a minimum, what we would want is anybody in these hurricane-affected areas who had damage to their home, who are approved for My Safe Florida Home, but there’s not enough money, let’s get them grants so that helps when they’re rebuilding it and they need to rebuild,” DeSantis said. " This will help keep them, hopefully in better shape for the next hurricane season.”
The governor also said he wants legislators to overhaul Florida’s citizen ballot initiative process for proposing constitutional amendments, after claiming a 2024 measure that would have expanded abortion rights was plagued by fraud.