Florida Legislature has rejected Gov. Ron DeSantis’s call for a special session and called their own focused solely on immigration.
Instead of taking on proposals from DeSantis, Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, ended the special session and then convened their own special session to pass new illegal immigration restrictions, the Tallahassee Democrat is reporting.
Perez and Albritton said DeSantis’ call for a session was done too hastily, adding that the other issues DeSantis wanted to be addressed – condominium law reforms, hurricane mitigation program funding and petition fraud crackdowns – could be addressed during the regular session, which begins March 4.
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As Florida lawmakers head to Tallahassee for the beginning of the state's special session on immigration enforcement that begins Monday, a number of bills have been filed in both the Florida House and Senate that, if passed, would largely advance Gov. Ron DeSantis' agenda .
Throughout the day Sunday, companion bills were filed that would overhaul how the state deals with illegal immigration:
- House Bill 1A - defines "transnational criminal organizations" and lays out set of enhanced penalties for individuals connected (companion bill Senate Bill 6A ).
- House Bill 7A - enhances penalties for misdemeanors committed by a person after unlawful reentry into the United States.
- House Bill 11A - requires each county and city law enforcement agency with more than 25 sworn officers to commit 10 percent of their force to undergoing training on compliance with federal immigration law and performing the duties of an immigration officer. The bill would also expand the "Unauthorized Alien Transport Program" to include deportations and create the position of a "State Immigration Enforcement Officer" to oversee the program.
Another bill would remove out-of-state fee waivers for students who are "Dreamers," or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.
DACA legislation was signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Scott and championed by then-Rep. Jeannette Nuñez, who now serves as lieutenant governor.
"That was a mistake, that's an incentive for people to come to Florida, so we want to remove that incentive," DeSantis said at a news conference ahead of the session.
"We want to ensure that all of our levels of government are participating positively alongside the federal government."
But it remains to be seen whether all of the bills filed make it off the ground.
Republican leadership in the Florida House and Senate already put out a memo criticizing the need and timing of the special session, but were obligated to call lawmakers back to Tallahassee in the governor's direction.
They are not, however, obligated to pass any of the bills.
"Clearly, this immigration stuff, there's a mandate from the voters: they want this dealt with," DeSantis said.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) said that as of Sunday evening, she and other lawmakers still had not been informed of any committees being scheduled ahead of the special session.
"[The bills are] replications of what the governor wants," Eskamani said. "You have some lawmakers who seem to be carrying the governor's water, but the question is, will everyone go into lockstep, or will they maintain the independence of the legislative branch?"