Gov. Ron DeSantis promised Wednesday to veto a sweeping immigration bill, in the latest escalation of a statehouse showdown between the governor and the state's Republican legislative leadership, who have sparred over whose proposals would best carry out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The bill, which was shepherded by House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton, allocates half a billion dollars to beefing up state and local coordination with federal law enforcement. It also would have meant enhanced criminal penalties for immigrants without legal permission who commit crimes in the U.S.
In a challenge to the term-limited governor who has leveraged his executive authority like no other Florida leader in recent memory, the bill cedes DeSantis’ oversight authority on immigration procedures and grants it to the state’s Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson. DeSantis has lambasted the move as putting the “fox in charge of the hen house.”
The morning after the measure was passed, DeSantis pledged to veto the bill, which he criticized as “weak” and “watered-down.”
“We must have the strongest law in the nation on immigration enforcement. We cannot be weak,” DeSantis posted on X Wednesday morning. “The veto pen is ready.”
We must have the strongest law in the nation on immigration enforcement. We cannot be weak.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 29, 2025
That's what the people expect and what the people have voted for in recent elections, culminating in the mandate earned by President Trump to enact the largest deportation program in… pic.twitter.com/1SNgwQ5iZH
Now the question is if the state's Republican dominated legislature can drum up enough support to override the governor's veto, after some GOP members voted against the measure.
In hours of emotional debate, Democrats pressed the bill sponsors on a provision that would strip Florida students of in-state tuition if they're in the country illegally, but some said they would vote for the overarching bill if the tuition issue was amended.
“If the bad pill wasn't in here,” Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones said during debate on the bill, “I'm almost sure that you would have gotten a unanimous vote.”
After DeSantis launched a public pressure campaign on cable news and social media, Republican leaders say they worked with the Trump administration to amend the bill, dubbed the TRUMP Act, to help marshal state and local resources to carry out the president's agenda. However, they resisted adding some of the governor's priorities, like creating a legal presumption that people in the country illegally are a flight risk.
For hours on Tuesday, legislators deliberated on the 80-plus page bill that included more than $500 million in funding to hire new officers, equip and train local agencies, and reimburse counties for leasing detention space to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
DeSantis has been criticizing the legislation since the Republican leaders announced it — which they did in a striking act of defiance, by dismissing the governor's call for a special session and gaveling in their own.
After the bill was passed Tuesday night, Perez seemed to address the criticisms from the governor and his allies, when he told his members to “not get distracted” by all the noise on social media.
“Threatening others to get your way isn’t leadership, it’s immaturity,” Perez said Tuesday evening.
The bill passed the House and Senate largely along party lines, though six Republicans in the Senate and one in the House voted against the bill, including some of the governor's allies.
Republican Rep. Mike Caruso, whose Palm Beach County district includes President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, called the bill weak and said it would not curb people from immigrating illegally into the country.
On Monday, Albritton and Perez emphasized they wanted to address the immigration crisis but did not agree with the governor's proposals to criminally charge local police officers who did not comply with state and federal immigration orders.
Democrats had criticized the bill process as rushed and some of its provisions cruel, specifically rolling back in-state tuition rates for immigrants in the country illegally who are currently enrolled in school. The law benefitted about 6,500 students in Florida during the 2023-24 fiscal year and was signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.
Democrats had also pushed to protect Florida's schools and places of worship from potential raids or searches, in light of the bill's requirement that all government employees “cooperate to the fullest extent possible” with federal immigration enforcement.
