'WORST VOTE': DeSantis attacks state lawmakers, intends to veto immigration bill

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did not hold back Wednesday at a nearly 2-hour public roundtable where he promised to veto the bill passed suddenly late Tuesday night by state lawmakers who were supposed to be getting ready for a special session the next day.

From the panel at Florida Gulf Coast University in Lee County, DeSantis called the quote 'Trump Act' "weak," saying lawmakers were using President Trump's strength combined with their quote "weak sauce".

Click to watch the entire conversation with the Governor unedited from FGCU on Wednesday:

"This the worst vote that Republicans could take," DeSantis said, reflecting on the past 6 years of legislating. "This one will sting, as people know more about what was in this thing."

The bill was shepherded by House Speaker Daniel Perez (R) Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, who represents part of Southwest Florida — DeSoto County, to be exact, in addition to Hardee County and part of Polk County.

The bill allocated half a billion dollars to beefing up state and local coordination with federal law enforcement. It would also have meant enhanced criminal penalties for immigrants without legal permission who commit crimes in the U.S.

One of the Governor's biggest criticisms was that the bill made the state's Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson the state's chief immigration leader, moving oversight of immigration procedures and grants out of the Governor's office.

"Why the hell would you do that," DeSantis said. "Did you want the Agriculture Commissioner responding to Hurricane Ian or would you want me?"

At another point in the discussion DeSantis reiterated, "I'm not looking for credit, I'm looking to get the job done."

Now the question is if the state's Republican dominated legislature can drum up enough support to override the governor's veto, after some GOP members voted against the measure.

In hours of emotional debate, Democrats pressed the bill sponsors on a provision that would strip Florida students of in-state tuition if they're in the country illegally, but some said they would vote for the overarching bill if the tuition issue was amended.

“If the bad pill wasn't in here,” Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones said during debate on the bill, “I'm almost sure that you would have gotten a unanimous vote.”

After DeSantis launched a public pressure campaign on cable news and social media, Republican leaders say they worked with the Trump administration to amend the bill, dubbed the TRUMP Act, to help marshal state and local resources to carry out the president's agenda. However, they resisted adding some of the governor's priorities, like creating a legal presumption that people in the country illegally are a flight risk.

For hours on Tuesday, legislators deliberated on the 80-plus page bill that included more than $500 million in funding to hire new officers, equip and train local agencies, and reimburse counties for leasing detention space to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

DeSantis has been criticizing the legislation since the Republican leaders announced it — which they did in a striking act of defiance, by dismissing the governor's call for a special session and gaveling in their own.

"Democrats were high-fiving on the floor the other night!" DeSantis said at FGCU Wednesday afternoon. "The ACLU was cheering the leaders of the Florida legislature! Was the ACLU cheering me when we banned.... Where they high-fiving we banned gender ideology? No! We're they high-fiving when we were doing things with illegal immigration? No."

At FGCU Wednesday, Governor DeSantis also moved to deputize state troopers with immigration authority through a memorandum of understanding that he signed at the end of the discussion. He said if the legislature overrode his veto, the Agriculture Commissioner could "deep six that," but in the meantime he was moving forward, claiming he wanted local authorities involved with this state effort.

Watch the deputizing of state troopers here:

Wednesday afternoon there was little immediate social media response from legislative leadership. But after the bill's passage Tuesday night, Perez seemed to address the criticisms from the governor and his allies, when he told his members to “not get distracted” by all the noise on social media.

The bill passed the House and Senate largely along party lines, though six Republicans in the Senate and one in the House voted against the bill, including some of the governor's allies.

On Monday, Albritton and Perez emphasized they wanted to address the immigration crisis but did not agree with the governor's proposals to criminally charge local police officers who did not comply with state and federal immigration orders.

Democrats had criticized the bill process as rushed and some of its provisions cruel, specifically rolling back in-state tuition rates for immigrants in the country illegally who are currently enrolled in school. The law benefitted about 6,500 students in Florida during the 2023-2024 fiscal year and was signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Scott in 2014.