The Florida Senate passed an immigration crackdown developed in consultation with President Donald Trump. The bill was passed in the upper chamber on a 21-16 vote.
It now heads to the House, but from there heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has called the bill “weak.”
“President Trump is asking for more badges, more detention beds and laser focus on catching criminal illegal aliens who violate our laws,” said Sen. Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican. “This bill delivers through key funding and partnership with law enforcement leaders who know what will work best in their communities.”
Gruters said the bill will allow Florida state and local law enforcement to help enforce immigration laws in cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The legislation would put in statute a number of stiffer penalties for crimes if committed by undocumented immigrants.
That includes mandatory death sentences for any undocumented immigrant convicted of a capital offense, such as murder or rape, as well as reclassification of criminal penalties when a deported individual returns to Florida and commits a crime.
It also establishes requirements and mechanisms for Florida law enforcement agencies to develop working relationships with ICE.
It also assigns oversight and responsibility for immigration enforcement with the Agriculture Commissioner as Chief Immigration Officer, as opposed to the Governor. But Gruters said the focus will be on Florida assisting the Trump administration in enforcing the nation’s laws.
“We are doing what President Trump has asked.” Gruters said.
But Democrats questioned the need for Florida to step in and enforce federal laws. Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo, a Miami-Dade Democrat, asked why further state penalties would influence whether migrants come to the U.S. illegally.
“Do you really think because somebody who’s seeing dead bodies in the street and absolute despair, destruction, blight and murderous gang activity in Port-au-Prince, Haiti thinks that I should consider going to the United States, because I meant may end up in a nice GEO facility down the street with a barber shop, day, laundry, vocational training, a GED and climate control?” he said.
Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, questioned if a proposed incentive program for law enforcement officers working with ICE task forces would drain vital state resources. He also expressed fears about whether the privacy concerns of non-criminals who are undocumented could be compromised in the policy.
The bill also rescinds in-state tuition for residents who have been living in Florida illegally. Sen. Randy Fine, a Palm Bay Republican, crafted that part of the legislation.
“If someone from Haiti applied and went to a university in Florida, and from Haiti and they got in, they would pay three times as much as someone from Haiti who came here illegally and then went to school,” Fine said.
Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Miami Gardens Democrat, question the need for the bill, which comes a decade after Florida extended in-state tuition.
“Do you not believe that these individuals are not contributors here?” Jones said.
Ultimately, Republicans shut down multiple amendments trying to take the tuition-related provisions out of the bill. Republican Sens. Jennifer Bradley, of Fleming Island, and Alexis Calatayud, of Miami, did vote with Democrats for an amendment on tuition filed by Jones.
Gruters said the focus of the bill was on criminal activity. Notably, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said everyone entering the nation illegally has a criminal record. “All of them because they illegally broke our nation’s laws, and therefore, they are criminals,” she said.
The bill from here heads to the House for consideration. But the biggest obstacle may be when it reaches the Governor’s desk. DeSantis criticized the bill as a “half-measure” that falls short of policies he promoted when he called lawmakers to Tallahassee for a Special Session.
“We need strong policies that will ensure that local and state agencies are actively assisting with interior enforcement efforts of the Trump administration,” DeSantis posted on X.
That presents a high risk the legislation will be vetoed once it reaches the Governor’s desk. It takes two-thirds of lawmakers in both chambers of the Legislature to override a veto, and the 21-16 vote signals that could be a rough hill to climb. Three senators — two Democrats and one Republican — did not vote.
All Democrats voted against the legislation. But so did six Republicans: Sens.Bradley, Calatayud, Jay Collins, Erin Grall, Blaise Ingoglia and Jonathan Martin. Most were close allies of the Governor.
But notably, a number of Democrats said they voted against the legislation based solely on the tuition aspect of the bill. “I’m almost sure that if the bad pill wasn’t in here, and that’s dealing with in state tuition, I’m almost sure that you would have gotten a unanimous vote,” Jones said.
And Republican Calatayud also focused on the tuition issue in her own closing debate on the bill, noting even Trump has acknowledged children brought to the U.S. as children pose a different challenge than violent criminals.
“”Make no mistake, ensuring that our dreamers have equal access to opportunity is part of the Trump agenda,” she said.
That leaves cracks to suggest a veto-proof majority could exist— but for a more moderate version of the bill. Meanwhile, most Republicans voting against the legislation said it didn’t go far enough to effectively combat illegal immigration.
One of DeSantis’ key legislative allies, Ingoglia, pressed Gruters on why the bill shifts law enforcement powers away from the Governor, especially when certain actions, like suspending elected officials who won’t enforce the law, must still go to the Governor for final action anyway.
“Why house this in the Department of Agriculture?” the Spring Hill Republican said.
Gruters said the Agriculture Commissioner already deals with immigration issues now. Besides, he said Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson could be in office another six years, unlike any other current Cabinet official or the Governor, who faces term limits in 2026. But he said statutes should not be about personalities.
“At the end of the day, this should not be about who gets the credit,” Gruters said.
Lawmakers convened Monday but gaveled out of the Special Session called by DeSantis quickly, then reconvened for a Special Session called by legislative leaders and advanced the TRUMP Act instead.
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