Governor DeSantis again blasts Florida Legislature over illegal immigration, vows to veto 'TRUMP Act'

DeSantis and lawmakers clash over immigration bill

FOX 13’s Evan Axelbank reports on the ongoing war in Tallahassee as Governor Ron DeSantis went on the offensive against the state’s legislature on the issue of illegal immigration.

DESTIN, Fla. - The war is on in Tallahassee as Gov. Ron DeSantis went on the offensive on Friday, again going after the Florida Legislature on the contentious issue of illegal immigration.

At a news conference in Destin on Friday, the governor railed against the ‘TRUMP Act,’ which state lawmakers passed this week after rebuking the governor's special session and convening their own instead.

Battle over immigration legislation

Special session rebuked

The backstory:

Earlier this month, DeSantis called a special session, asking state lawmakers to consider several immigration-related proposals, along with hurricane relief, condo fee reform and the citizen ballot initiative process.

The governor's proposals included requiring "maximum participation" among all cities and counties in enforcement of immigration laws, along with expanding existing authorities to empower local and state officials to detain and deport undocumented immigrants.

When the Legislature met this past Monday, however, both the Florida House and Senate rebuked DeSantis and quickly ended the special session, instead deciding to convene their own session.

The Florida House quickly adjourned and called their own special session on Monday.

State Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez, both Republicans, said the special session was "premature."

"President Trump clearly has the situation under control and is leading from the Oval Office," Albritton said on Monday. "I want to be careful that we don't do anything to undermine President Trump's very good plan. I won't stand for that."

TRUMP Act passed

State lawmakers then passed the TRUMP Act, which stands for ‘Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Immigration Policy.’

The TRUMP Act would, among other things, eliminate in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants at public colleges and universities, while also naming Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson as the state’s chief immigration officer.

PREVIOUS: Undocumented immigration bill has Florida's governor, agriculture commissioner and legislation at odds

What they're saying:

Governor DeSantis

DeSantis immediately criticized the bill, using such adjectives as "weak" and "pathetic" in a series of roundtables on the issue of immigration – but he may have saved his strongest words for Friday's news conference.

In his view, they left holes in preventing those who are undocumented from registering to vote, were too soft on those who commit crimes, and were spoiling the state's executive power by making the commissioner of agriculture the "chief immigration officer."

"Who the hell do they think they are to say they need a ‘mother, may I?’ from the commissioner of freaking agriculture?" DeSantis said.

Governor Ron DeSantis spoke Friday at a news conference in Destin.

The governor also argued that the TRUMP Act would weaken Florida's fight against illegal immigration, rather than strengthen it.

He insisted the bill is an effort to go soft because special interests, like farmers, depend on the cheap labor of those who are undocumented.

"They created a piece of legislation that not only didn't answer the call and help deliver on the mandate that we have for the American people, they did things that are going to make it worse to combat illegal immigration," DeSantis said.

DeSantis said that the TRUMP Act has not been sent to his desk to sign or veto.

"If this is such good legislation, why have they not sent me the bill yet to act on?" he asked during the press conference.

DeSantis also bet that because the bill hasn't been officially sent to him, the legislature seems worried about the governor vetoing it in front of a crowd of people who might applaud that veto.

It is not clear when or if the legislature will send it to him because they may not have the votes to override that veto.

DeSantis said the Legislature has not yet sent him the bill, which he has repeatedly vowed to veto.

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The other side:

The bill's backers called it the TRUMP Act. They pointed out it sends $500 million to local agencies to reimburse them for enforcement costs, that it requires cooperation with the Trump Administration, and that the agriculture commissioner would get an enforcement division of fifty workers.

Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez held an online town hall on Thursday with some GOP county leaders, and was asked why he hasn't worked directly with the governor on immigration legislation.

"It's tough to want to work with a gentleman that, when he doesn’t get his way, threatens to primary members of the Legislature. That's a tough place to be in. Instead, have the conversation. Have the conversation, and you can agree to disagree, but threats aren't going to work in the Legislature. They're not," said Perez.

Perez also said the governor has mischaracterized the TRUMP Act. During an interview with Miami influencer Linda Catalina, Perez said the bill received support from all but one Republican in the State House. He then mentioned DeSantis’ unsuccessful presidential campaign.

"And then on the other side, you have a gentleman who primaried the greatest president in the history of the United States, Donald J. Trump, just a year ago," Perez said. "I mean, and then on top of that, he's gonna say that this is weak and that this is catch-and-release. I mean, this is the same guy that was trying to make sure that Donald J. Trump would never see the White House again. Think about that for a second."

"He knows I've been the one in President Trump's corner the entire time on immigration policy," said Wilton Simpson, who is currently Florida's agriculture commissioner. "It's a political issue for him. He realizes that obviously he'll be out of office in two years and someone is going to replace him to be the next governor."

The governor is pledging to get involved in that fight.

He put legislators on notice that he would put his political weight and money behind those who ran against lawmakers who supported the immigration bill.

"We're also going to get involved in some of these legislative primaries, because I just think that if you've campaigned one way, and you get up, and you do something different," said DeSantis. "We need to expose that for the voters."

The Source: FOX 13's Evan Axelbank contributed to the story. It was also written using information from the governor's news conference, along with the Governor's Office, the Florida Legislature, the News Service of Florida and previous FOX 13 News reports.

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