Following widespread backlash to their establishment antics, Florida’s legislative leadership came to a compromise with Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday to advance legislation assisting with President Donald Trump’s deportation of illegal aliens.
“Florida always leads. We have a responsibility to enact policies that will help end the illegal immigration crisis once and for all, and our Republican leaders have been working tirelessly to do just that,” DeSantis said in a statement announcing the deal. “With the enactment of these policies, Florida will help the Trump Administration to deliver on the President’s historic mandate to end illegal immigration.”
The agreed-upon proposals contain many of the policies DeSantis put forward last month that were initially rejected by the legislature’s GOP leadership.
One of the bills, for instance, includes penalties for local officials who institute edicts or ordinances “refusing to comply with or otherwise directing local officials, employees, or others to refuse to comply with an immigration detainer issued by a federal immigration agency.” If said individuals are suspected of committing such actions, the bill empowers the Florida attorney general to “initiate judicial proceedings” against them to “enforce compliance.” It also provides courts the ability to invalidate these local directives if they are found to be in violation of the law.
The proposal additionally creates a State Board of Immigration Enforcement within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is to be headed by the governor and his cabinet (“the board”). Tasked with being “the chief immigration enforcement officer of the state,” the board is required to “appoint an executive director to assist in the implementation of its responsibilities.”
This officer will serve as the primary point of contact for Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officials and ensure cooperation in “the enforcement of federal immigration laws and other matters related to the enforcement of federal immigration laws,” among other responsibilities.
A State Immigration Enforcement Council — comprised of law enforcement members appointed by the state’s governor, chief financial officer, attorney general, commissioner of agriculture, Senate president, and House speaker — would also be established under the current proposal. The council would exist to “advis[e] the board” on immigration-related matters.
Provisions prohibiting the issuance of driver’s licenses for all illegal aliens and in-state tuition for foreign nationals, along with increased penalties for illegal aliens caught “willfully” voting in U.S. elections and foreign criminal gang members, are also in the proposed legislation.
As previously indicated, Monday’s deal did not come without its headaches.
DeSantis’ initial call for a special session of the legislature last month to tackle illegal immigration was rebuffed by Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez, both of whom are Republicans and referred to the governor’s request as “premature.” The legislative leaders then subsequently gaveled into their own special session to ram through their preferred immigration legislation (deceptively named the “TRUMP Act“), which contained provisions seemingly much weaker than those put forward by the governor.
The legislature’s bill sought to effectively strip oversight of immigration enforcement from the governor and give it to the state’s agriculture commissioner, who would be designated as Florida’s “chief immigration officer.”
As The Federalist reported, the position of agriculture commissioner is currently held by Wilton Simpson, a former Florida Senate president with a track record of being soft on illegal immigration enforcement. During his time as a legislator, for example, Simpson supported measures giving temporary driver’s licenses and in-state tuition rates to certain foreign nationals.
DeSantis and the legislature’s new proposals will be considered by the latter in a special session this week. If passed “as they’re presented now,” the governor has pledged to sign them.
https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/11/desantis-florida-legislature-strike-agreement-to-expedite-trumps-deportation-operations/
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