In a compromise and power-sharing agreement with Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Legislature opened a third special session on immigration enforcement on Tuesday in Tallahassee.
The previous session ended with GOP lawmakers snubbing the Republican governor's proposals and approving its own measure on Jan. 28. That led to days of public sniping between legislators and DeSantis., who threatened to veto the bill.
Among the strongest criticisms of the bill from DeSantis was placing control of immigration enforcement under the control of Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson. That, and other disagreements, appear to be in the past.
Instead, under the legislation proposed Tuesday, that power will go to a new State Board of Immigration Enforcement, made up of the governor, Agriculture commissioner, attorney general and chief financial officer.
The board would coordinate immigration enforcement activities with federal officials and dole out $250 million in grants to local law enforcement agencies to assist federal enforcement efforts. Decisions made by the board would have to be unanimous.
All decisions of the board would be required to be unanimous.
Tthe board would appoint a State Immigration Enforcement Council, which would be composed of eight members made up from county sheriffs, police chiefs and Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials.
The council would advise the board on the work of local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law, recommend strategies to increase the number of available detention beds, facilitate training of local officers in the enforcement of federal immigration law, and provide other coordination with the Trump administration.
The legislation carries a $298 million price tag — significantly less than the $515 million slated for the previous proposal. The package includes funding for more than 80 new positions related to immigration enforcement, as well as grants for local governments to cover expenses like new equipment and staff training, bonuses for officers who help carry out federal enforcement, and reimbursement for leasing detention facilities to the federal government.
Other measures in the bill include denying bail and requiring pretrial detention for immigrants in the country without legal status who are accused of felonies and making it a state-level crime to enter or reenter Florida illegally.
The bill would require sheriffs and county jail administrators to cooperate with federal immigration officials and participate in what is known as the 287(g) program and report immigrants without legal status to federal authorities.
DeSantis last week announced the deployment of the Florida Highway Patrol to assist federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in arresting immigrants who are suspected of being in the state illegally.
The bill imposes $5,000 fines and suspension from office for county or municipal officials who refuse to comply with immigration detainers issued by a federal agency.
It also keeps the original language ending in-state tuition waivers for about 6,500 college and university students in Florida brought to the U.S. illegally as children – known as “Dreamers.’’
It also keeps $1,000 bonuses to local law enforcement officers who participate in federal immigration raids and appropriates $250 million to recruit and hire additional law enforcement officers and support staff to beef up immigration enforcement. The highway patrol and other agencies in Florida face a critical hiring shortage.
A separate bill (HB 3-C and SB 4-C) would make it a state crime to be in the country illegally and would impose the death penalty on undocumented immigrants who commit murders or rape children.
Notably, the compromise bill does away with a controversial program created under DeSantis that used millions in taxpayer funds to transport migrants out of the state. The governor's allies had pushed for $350 million to expand the state-led program. Instead, lawmakers are proposing a retooled version of the program that would require federal officials to “specifically request assistance” for the state to transport migrants, “consistent with federal law.”
In a statement ahead of the special session, DeSantis said, “The proposed legislation requires the full participation of state and local law enforcement with the federal government in its enforcement of immigration law, prevents the ‘catch and release’ of illegal aliens, and ensures that illegal aliens who enter Florida are held accountable. It also provides significant resources to bolster these efforts.’’
In the two weeks since the orginal bill passed, DeSantis has been on a tour around the state calling it “weak,’’ “ridiculous’’ and “swampy.’’
Under the threat of a veto that did not have the votes to override in the Senate, the Legislature’s leadership never sent the bill to the governor’s desk and have worked with him since to forge a compromise.
The revisions were put forward by Republican Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota and Rep. Lawrence McClure of Dover.
In a joint statement Tuesday, House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton said, “Combining important feedback received from Governor DeSantis and Commissioner Simpson with the very strong legislation passed during Special Session B, we are building on the technical assistance from the White House to advance and implement strong policies and provide critical resources to support President Trump’s efforts to combat illegal immigration efficiently and effectively.’’
House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, said the bill won’t help Floridians.
“The immigration system really is, we can acknowledge, broken. But it requires federal solutions. It requires federal funding, more federal judges, more agents for ICE. So, it just begs the question of how is the Florida Legislature and the governor coming up with nearly $300 million to address this problem?” she said.
Information from the Associated Press and News Service of Florida was used in this report.
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