PALM BEACH, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Thursday he wants to stop immigrants who are in the United States illegally from sending money back to their families who live in their home country.
DeSantis held a roundtable in South Florida Thursday morning to continue expressing his disapproval of the “Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy (TRUMP) Act,” which the Florida Legislature passed on Tuesday night. He said the bill, which he said he plans to veto, fails to address many of his proposals, including one that addresses international remittances, or transfers from a well-meaning individual or family member to another person or household in another country.
“A lot of these folks from third world countries, they can make more here doing these jobs and they could back their own countries, so they can work under the table, then they send money in the form of remittances back to their home country,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis said the state’s Legislature needs to address remittances and other incentives to “come to the state of Florida illegally.”
“If you’re lawfully here as a foreigner, send, but if you’re illegally working, then those remittances should not be [sent]. If you did that, you would dry up the incentives to come illegally because they couldn’t do the remittances,” DeSantis said. “The legislature doesn’t want to deal with remittances at all.”
DeSantis immigration-related proposals include:
- Require law enforcement (municipal, county and state levels) to have maximum participation in any programs to assist the federal government with the enforcement of immigration laws
- Enact criminal penalties for illegal entry under state law
- Appoint a state immigration officer to oversee coordination with federal authorities and Florida’s existing transport and deportation program
- Expand authorities for local and state officials to detain and deport people who entered the country illegally
- Broaden the definition of gang-related activities to include “dangerous” groups of undocumented migrants
- Require voter registration affirmation of U.S. citizenship and Florida residency
- Increase penalties for undocumented migrants who commit voter fraud or provide false voter registration information
- Have money transfer companies impose an ID verification for foreign remittances
- Establish a “rebuttable presumption” that people who enter the country illegally are “flight risks” and deny bail if accused of a crime
The Florida Legislature’s immigration bill includes boosting criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants, ending in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrant students and creating a state “chief immigration officer,” which would be the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson.
But DeSantis and other state officials said this bill is “weak,” and does not align with the state’s goals targeting illegal immigration.
“It puts handcuffs on agencies,” said Rep. Mike Caruso during Thursday’s roundtable.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass and Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw also joined the governor in the roundtable.
“This is a manmade disaster,” Glass said during the roundtable, referring to the bill.
On Wednesday, DeSantis said the bill would not get his signature and said he would veto it.
“The veto pen is ready,” he said.
Now the question is whether the Republican-dominated legislature can drum up enough support to override the veto, after some GOP lawmakers voted against the measure. Rep. John Temple wrote on X that he regretted his yes vote the previous evening. He said he won’t support his Republican colleagues in overriding the veto, if DeSantis does veto it.
Republicans appear to need to win over some Senate Democrats in order to override, which could expose GOP members to even more attacks from the right.