TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Following a Florida Legislature special session this week tackling only one issue — immigration — Gov. Ron DeSantis hosted two roundtables on Wednesday where he signaled he would veto the bill that lawmakers passed on Tuesday night.
The Senate voted 21-16 to approve the bill, while the House passed it 82-30. Attention quickly turned to whether DeSantis would veto the bill after lawmakers rejected his proposed immigration changes.
“It’s not going to get my signature,” DeSantis said during a roundtable Wednesday in Fort Myers.
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.”
“This thing stinks,” DeSantis said referring to the bill.
That bill also puts immigration collaboration and enforcement in the hands of Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, taking much of the power from Gov. DeSantis.
“It’s not going to work,” DeSantis said. “Obviously, the Commissioner of Agriculture, and given how people have come and worked illegally in that industry, is like the fox guarding the hen house.”
During Wednesday’s roundtables, DeSantis also called the bill “weak, ineffectual and subversive” and said the approved legislation does not align with the state’s immigration goals.
“This bill takes us backwards from where we are right now. There will be fewer deportations of illegal aliens,” DeSantis said.
The governor’s 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 final 84-page version of the “Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy (TRUMP) Act” emerged after two days of conflict between Republican legislative leaders and DeSantis about what should pass.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, fired back at DeSantis’ initial comments on the bill, saying lawmakers had passed “the most-conservative, the most-aggressive and the most-effective immigration bill in the country.”
“Of course, you’re going to have your handful of politicians, a small group of activists and a lot of paid bots on social media trying to gaslight you,” Perez told the House. “But we know that truth matters, and simply saying that something is terrible over and over doesn’t actually make it true. Threatening others to get your way isn’t leadership, it’s immaturity.”