TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Republicans are engaged in a civil war, with Governor Ron DeSantis opposing the GOP-controlled state legislature, over President Donald Trump’s desire to swiftly restructure the country’s immigration system.
Earlier this month, DeSantis summoned lawmakers back to Tallahassee for a special legislative session specifically to align state law with a series of anticipated executive orders from Trump that center on immigration.
The special session was abruptly ended Monday morning by Republican leaders in the House and Senate, who had previously criticized DeSantis’ plans as “premature,” and they promptly called their own.
Republican leadership was able to draft its own immigration measures, including wording that places the governor in a precarious political position, after the action essentially killed all of the legislation that DeSantis’ allies had already submitted. Legislative leaders’ plan would transfer DeSantis’ broad immigration supervision authority to Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, a statewide elected official who has a tense relationship with DeSantis and is considering a 2026 run for governor.
According to Florida State House Speaker Danny Perez, Simpson would be appointed the state’s chief immigration officer—a role that does not already exist—as part of their plan. DeSantis wants to establish that role as well, but he would have maintained control over it.
Perez stated that in order to coordinate immigration, the state government must have a single point of attention. We require an organization with more statewide reach and expertise collaborating with law enforcement and the federal government.
The action puts DeSantis in a difficult position and emphasizes that he no longer has the same political influence in the state as he did before to his 2024 presidential candidacy.
DeSantis would either have to reject a measure that includes hard-line immigration reforms, many of which he favors, or sign a law that essentially knee-caps his power to coordinate immigration enforcement in the state if the Republican leaders’ bill succeeds as anticipated.
Prominent DeSantis supporters have strongly criticized Republican leadership on social media, claiming that their hesitation to follow the governor’s lead indicates that they do not support Trump’s agenda. Perez and Florida Senate President Ben Albritton have both reacted to this criticism. They do have elements in their ideas that are in line with Trump’s executive directives on immigration.
It proposes $500 million for local law enforcement to combat illegal immigration, mandates that state and local law enforcement collaborate closely with federal immigration authorities, mandates that judges and state attorneys be aware of a criminal defendant’s immigration status prior to considering any bail or pretrial release, and increases the severity of penalties for certain offenses committed by undocumented immigrants.
Additionally, as DeSantis has advocated in public, the proposal would eliminate the in-state tuition rates currently offered to Dreamers, or undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors. Because it was approved by Republican lawmakers, including current Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuez, and signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Scott, that idea has been particularly controversial.
Shortly after he requested a special session, Trump publicly supported DeSantis.
I hope more governors will follow suit. Thank you, Ron. Trump shared on Truth Social.
Perez told NBC News that although Florida lawmakers had discussed Trump’s immigration reform agenda with the White House and support it, they did not believe DeSantis’s approach was the best course of action.
“The open borders policy has been overwhelmingly rejected by the American people, and President Trump is taking decisive action to address this crisis,” he stated. Florida needs to take certain steps right away to swiftly comply with President Trump’s orders.
He continued by saying that the governor’s proclamation was regrettably too limited to cover everything that needed to be done to support President Trump.
Functionally, DeSantis was advocating for reforms that would enable state officials to perform a number of tasks that are currently only performed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The DeSantis-created Unauthorized Alien Transport Program, which was used in 2023 to transport migrants to locations in states controlled by Democrats, is something he wants to significantly expand. Draft legislation states that the modifications would comply with federal law.
DeSantis was requesting that lawmakers approve $350 million in new financing for the governor’s reform measures, which would also mandate that state and county law enforcement agencies educate local officials to carry out federal-like immigration tasks.
That strategy is excessively cumbersome, according to Perez.
He stated that we gave Governor DeSantis’ proposal great thought and that he had some excellent suggestions. However, a lot of his suggestions are bureaucratic. We don’t have to make a little version of ICE and replicate the operations of U.S. Customs and Immigration.
Additionally, he said that the plans will take over local law enforcement activities.