After weeks of discord, Florida Republicans craft Trump-focused immigration legislation
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After weeks of war between Florida Gov.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After weeks of war between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and leaders of his own party, state Republicans have reached a deal on new legislation to help implement President Donald Trump's immigration agenda.
The negotiations led to DeSantis keeping more immigration authority than was originally proposed by Republicans in the state Legislature, but he also had to make concessions as part of the deal — something DeSantis has not had to do during his six years in office, as a compliant Legislature generally handed him everything he had asked for before his 2024 presidential campaign.
The fight in Florida was among the first among Republican-led states trying to align their laws with Trump's series of immigration enforcement changes, many of which have come via executive order.
Trump was engaged in the first round of negotiations over the state bill in Florida last month, but he did not lobby either side directly as the final deal came into form, according to two sources familiar with his thinking. The deal requires pretrial detention for those who are undocumented and commit "forcible felonies"; creates enhanced penalties for undocumented immigrants who commit certain crimes; ends in-state tuition breaks for undocumented students at Florida universities; includes funding for a new "interdiction center" in North Florida to "curb illegal immigration"; and creates a grant program for local law enforcement officials who take training to help them better perform duties historically reserved for federal immigration authorities.
Republicans in Florida have universally agreed they want to follow Trump’s lead on immigration, but an intra-party turf war between DeSantis and the state Legislature's two Republican leaders, state House Speaker Danny Perez and state Senate President Ben Albritton, made for a messy negotiation process. Republicans in the Florida Legislature have wanted to reassert their independence after DeSantis' failed presidential run, and they used the immigration fight as their first attempt to signal to him that he no longer has a totally compliant Legislature.
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