After spending a week castigating a legislative plan addressing illegal immigration, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday adopted a more conciliatory tone as he laid out his proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
DeSantis has been locked in a fierce battle with House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, over how to help carry out President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
But as DeSantis held a news conference Monday to announce his proposed budget, he tamped down the dispute.
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“We've had great discussions. I think we'll land the plane,” DeSantis said when asked about the immigration issue.
The Republican-controlled Legislature during a special session last week snubbed a plan floated by DeSantis and instead approved a measure that would make Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson the state’s immigration czar. The legislation (SB 2-B) would give Simpson’s office oversight of nearly $500 million in grants to state and local law enforcement agencies to assist with the Trump administration’s immigration efforts.
DeSantis made the rounds on national radio and television to excoriate the legislative leaders’ proposal, calling it “weak” and a “pro-amnesty” bill. The governor and his allies also unleashed attacks on social media, as DeSantis threatened to back GOP candidates in next year’s legislative and gubernatorial primary races. DeSantis focused his critique on the part of the plan that would establish Simpson — a potential 2026 gubernatorial candidate who is close to Trump — as the state’s chief immigration officer.
The governor also said he would veto the bill, though the Legislature had not formally sent it to him as of Monday afternoon.
The showdown over the immigration proposal is the first time Republican lawmakers publicly have broken with the governor on a major issue since his election in 2018.
DeSantis on Monday credited the Legislature for partnering with him and delivering on his agenda for the past six years.
“And while I am the most well known of all the folks up here, the reality is that the Legislature has had a huge role to play in that,” the governor said. “And I just think it wouldn't be within their character of their more recent actions to not aggressively address illegal immigration, given the historic moment.”
Albritton and Perez have issued joint memos defending their plan and lashing out at DeSantis for overstepping his authority, and attacks became increasingly personal.
“The problem is that he (DeSantis) has two years left, and unfortunately he is trying to stay in a place of relevance. And our bill is, quite frankly, just stronger than his. And that's unfortunate, because I look at him as a partner,” Perez said during an appearance on CBS News Miami’s “Facing South Florida with Jim DeFede” that aired Sunday.
Perez took aim at a proposal pushed by DeSantis that would allow the governor to transport immigrants with legal status to their home countries.
“The governor wants to be able to appoint the immigration czar; that’s how he quotes it. He wants to appoint some bureaucrat inside his office — not elected by the people — so he has all the power,” Perez said. “That's what this is about. This is about Ron DeSantis wanting to be the deporter-in-chief, and the Legislature wanting that to be President Trump. We've solved for this problem through the eyes of President Trump. DeSantis wants everything for himself. That's what's happening here.”
But DeSantis on Monday downplayed the dispute, saying, “I do think that you’re going to see the plane land” on the immigration issue.
“There's always dissonance. There's always people who want to throw some sand in the gears for all these other reasons,” the governor said.
The legislative plan includes boosting criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants, ending in-state tuition rates for students without legal status and creating the position of chief immigration officer within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The bill also would lead to spending about $500 million, with much of the money going to local law enforcement agencies, and would require the death penalty for immigrants in the country illegally who commit crimes such as first-degree murder.
Republicans on both sides of the dispute tried to tie themselves to Trump — with the final version of the Legislature's bill titled the “Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy (TRUMP) Act,” a moniker that drew DeSantis’ jibes.
The budget proposal DeSantis submitted to lawmakers late Sunday didn’t show any signs of backing away from the governor’s stance on the immigration front. The governor’s proposal is considered a starting point for lawmakers as they craft a fiscal 2025-26 spending plan during the legislative session that will begin March 4.
DeSantis’ proposed budget would direct $505 million to the state Division of Emergency Management for immigration enforcement and earmark another $4.4 million to set up a “special immigration unit” within the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission “to immediately assist the federal administration’s enforcement of illegal immigration."
DeSantis on Monday said Republicans should focus on “policy that makes a difference.”
“Are we doing what we told the voters we were going to do? And if you do that, you're going to see everyone be happy, and then we can move on to the next set of issues. I think it was an aberration last week. I do think we're going to be united on this issue, and then we can move forward,” he said.
