TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Republicans appear to have found a compromise amid their lame-duck power struggle and will try – for a third time – to pass a series of immigration crackdown bills Tuesday.
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The renewed effort comes weeks after lawmakers failed to coalesce around dueling plans to anoint Gov. Ron DeSantis and Agriculture Secretary Wilton Simpson, the state’s “immigration czar.”
The one thing lawmakers did agree on: the need to show strength as President Trump pursues a furious push to show America will not tolerate illegal border crossings any longer.
The new bill acts as a compromise. It will create a Board of Immigration Enforcement that will consist of the governor and all three cabinet members. Any actions by the board must come from a unanimous vote.
The board will also be backed by a council of police chiefs and sheriffs picked by each member of the board and legislative leaders.
Some of the bill’s provisions include:
- Mandatory maximum penalties, including the death penalty, for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes
- Denying bail for most undocumented immigrants who are arrested
- Making illegally crossing the border a misdemeanor, punishable by nine months in jail on first offense and a year in jail for repeat offenders
- Creating a third-degree felony for anyone caught helping an undocumented immigrant vote
- Stripping in-state tuition waivers for undocumented immigrants, including so-called “Dreamers” brought to the US as children. Current waivers would be canceled as of July 1
- Leasing out unused jail cells to Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- Compelling local governments to enforce immigration laws and creating a $5,000 fine for any local official who willfully disregards the state’s direction
- Banning undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses
- Banning licenses given to undocumented immigrants by other states
The bills create one important carve-out: immigrants who are witnesses and victims of crimes would not have their statuses reported to ICE agents to protect them from being taken advantage of by criminals.
The bills also allocate more than $250 million to start up the effort, most of which comes from costs to set up grants for law enforcement who participate in immigration enforcement efforts.
Most of the provisions are similar to what was proposed by the legislature when it bucked the governor’s call for a special session, with the exception of the power-sharing structure.
The governor and legislative leaders quickly hailed the new bills Monday.
“I commend the legislature for stepping up to the plate. If they’re able to pass the proposals as presented now, they can expect my strong support,” DeSantis said in a selfie-style video posted to X. “Now is the time for us to get this done. We’ve been talking about this issue for years and years and years. Now we have a mandate.”
Democrats, who briefly thought they held the keys to getting a bill passed during the Republicans’ infighting last month, criticized the 11th-hour nature of the proposals and the call to return to Tallahassee.
They also condemned the cancellation of tuition waivers for young immigrants.
“While families are struggling with skyrocketing housing costs, unaffordable property insurance, and stagnant wages, Republican leadership is more focused on attacking immigrants and rolling back opportunities for Dreamers,” State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) said in a text message. “This is not how we should be governing.”
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