Florida Legislature revolts against DeSantis on immigration special session
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Photo Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Florida's legislative leaders led an unprecedented revolt against Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday, junking an immigration-focused special session he called in favor of their own and overturning a pair of his vetoes.
Why it matters: DeSantis, once an all-powerful figure in Florida, has seen his influence nosedive, first when Donald Trump trounced his presidential bid and now with a rare rebuke from the state Legislature.
Catch up quick: DeSantis called for the special session on Jan. 27 to boost Trump's planned crackdown on undocumented immigration.
- Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez said in a memo that the special session was "premature," noting that DeSantis didn't offer "any actual bill language" to consider.
- DeSantis fired back with draft bills, a barrage of X posts, email blasts and press conferences in which he dared the state Legislature to challenge him.
Driving the news: The governor's usual tactics didn't deter Albritton and Perez.
- Perez slammed DeSantis for an attempt to "bully" lawmakers, and the Legislature preempted the governor's threats to call them back to Tallahassee by calling their own session after adjourning his.
- The state House and Senate drew up their own immigration bills and then overturned two of DeSantis' budget vetoes, restoring $56 million in funding for the Legislature — the first veto overturned since 2010.
What they're saying: "I believe special sessions should be used sparingly," Perez said Monday. "They should not be stunts designed to generate headlines."
- "Supporting President Trump's mission to secure our borders, Florida stands ready to act with the most aggressive immigration policy ever introduced," Perez added in a press release.
The other side: "We need strong immigration legislation that ensures Florida is doing everything it can to assist this important federal mission," DeSantis wrote on X.
- "The Legislature's bill is a bait-and-switch tactic trying to create the illusion of an illegal immigration crackdown, when it does anything but," he added.
Zoom in: The new bill would appoint the agriculture commissioner as Florida's top immigration officer and create an office under the agriculture department to coordinate with the federal government and distribute resources to local agencies for immigration enforcement.
- The new Office of State Immigration Enforcement would oversee employment verification and migrant relocation programs and receive the immigration data that state hospitals collect.
- It would allow valid unexpired passports, including U.S. passports and certain foreign passports with DHS authorization, as proof of identity for driver's licenses, titles and registrations.
- The bill would make it a crime to solicit or help an undocumented immigrant to vote and would end in-state tuition for them.
The bottom line: DeSantis is entering the lame duck period of his governorship — and the Legislature on Monday reminded him of that.