Florida lawmakers have passed what supporters say are some of the toughest measures in the country aimed at helping President Trump crack down on illegal immigration.
The bills, passed in a special session and signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, create a state board of immigration enforcement, require local communities to cooperate with federal immigration officials, and increase penalties for immigrants without legal status who enter the state and who commit crimes.
The measure also repeals a law that allowed thousands of students without legal status to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. It makes it a state crime for someone without legal status to enter Florida - a misdemeanor on the first offense and felony after that.
The measures, which Republican bill sponsors crafted in consultation with the Trump administration, will provide more beds for immigrants detained for deportation. They include $298 million to equip and train local law enforcement and to reimburse local communities for costs not covered by the federal government. It would pay bonuses to law enforcement officers who participate in Immigration and Customs Enforcement Operations.
The measures passed Florida's House and Senate Thursday and a short time later were signed into law by DeSantis. "Florida will be safer and more secure as a result of this legislation," he said.
Florida is part of a wave or states joining in immigration enforcement
Immigration enforcement has long been a federal responsibility but Republican-led states from Texas to South Dakota have pressed for an increased role in recent years. Some had already created state laws against illegal immigration during the Biden administration. Last month Tennessee passed a sweeping immigration bill that, among other things, would allow criminal charges to be brought against local leaders who vote for sanctuary policies.
DeSantis said last week that Trump's plans for mass deportation will not be possible without drawing on state-level resources and law enforcement.
Opponents say mass deportations will divide families and force people back to dangerous countries they've fled. Immigration advocates point to studies showing immigrants commit crime at lower rates than people born in the U.S.
The bill signing in Tallahassee marked the end of a month of political wrangling that pitted DeSantis against fellow Republicans in Florida's legislature. In early January, DeSantis angered Republican leaders in the House and Senate by calling them into a special session to consider a bill that gave him unprecedented authority over immigration enforcement. Lawmakers rebuffed his proposals and instead passed a measure that removed the harshest provisions of his bill, and which gave authority over immigration enforcement to the state's agriculture commissioner.
DeSantis threatened a veto and held press conferences across the state railing against what he said was a weak response to Trump's pledge for a mass deportation of immigrants without legal status. Republican lawmakers held firm though and DeSantis eventually agreed to a compromise. The law sets up a State Board of Immigration Enforcement comprised of the governor, the agriculture commissioner and two other officials. All of its decisions must be made unanimously.
Republican leaders of Florida's House and Senate joined DeSantis at the bill signing. Senate President Ben Albritton said that, despite the political turmoil, he was happy with how things turned out. "Sometimes siblings squabble," he said, calling the new law "a prime example of when we put our heads together and run toward the same fight, that we bring results."
The new law creates stiff penalties including a death sentence
Among the most controversial provisions of the new law are higher penalties for immigrants without legal status who commit crimes. It mandates the death penalty for those without legal status who are convicted of a capital offense, including murder and rape of a child. It also makes it a state crime for people without legal status to enter the state. Democrats who voted against passage of the bills say those measures clearly violate the U.S. Constitution.
Democratic state Rep. Kelly Skidmore noted that when they were sworn into office, every member swore an oath to uphold both the Florida and U.S. Constitution. To those preparing to support the bill she said, "You have broken a vow you made to the people of Florida and yourself." Democrats predicted the law will be challenged and overturned in court and that the legal costs will be a waste of taxpayer money.
Democrats also fought unsuccessfully to remove a provision repealing a 2014 Florida law that allowed students without legal status to receive in-state tuition rates at state colleges and universities. Democratic Sen. Rosalind Osgood pleaded with Republican colleagues to consider the thousands of young people now enrolled who, faced with much higher tuition costs, could be forced to drop out of school. She said lawmakers should be "showing some compassion and grace to a group of children. The children may be undocumented… but it's not their fault."
Republican Sen. Randy Fine said he did not believe students without legal status who were brought to the U.S. by their parents are bad people. But he disagreed with those who call them "dreamers." He said, "To call them dreamers implies that they have dreams and they have ambitions that are greater than other people. There are 193 countries in the world. We didn't swear an oath to help the other 192."
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