Sarasota County Republican Joe Gruters debates immigration bill with Hernando County Republican Blaise Ingoglia during Senate debate on immigration bill on Jan. 28, 2025. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)
In defiance of Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Republican-led Florida Legislature passed a bill late Tuesday night anointing Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson as the state’s chief immigration officer and zapping millions of dollars from the governor’s office for immigration enforcement.
The bill cleared the chambers by a 21-16 vote in the Senate and 82-30 in the House after Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez agreed to changes worked out after conversations with the Trump administration designed to make the bill, dubbed the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy Act (or TRUMP Act), tougher and potentially more appealing to DeSantis.
Senate Republicans who voted no
- Jennifer Bradley
- Erin Grall
- Jay Collins
- Blaise Ingoglia
- Alexis Calatayud
- Jonathan Martin
House Republicans who voted no
- Michael Caruso
However, DeSantis still wasn’t satisfied with the bill after the changes, posting on X that “half-measures won’t suffice.”
Albritton and Perez’s unexpected move to ditch DeSantis’ immigration proposals on Monday reasserted lawmakers’ independence from the governor’s office.
“This bill will be a game changer. Of course, you’re gonna have your handful of politicians, small group of activists, and a lot of paid bots on social media trying to gaslight you,” Perez said in his final remarks on the floor. “But we know that truth matters, and simply saying that something is terrible over and over doesn’t actually make it true.
“Threatening others to get your way isn’t leadership, it’s immaturity. The people of our state deserve better.”
Senate sponsor says bill isn’t perfect
In making his closing pitch on the bill, Sarasota Republican Joe Gruters acknowledged the measure wasn’t “the silver bullet” that some Republicans wanted.
“We have a long way to go,” he said. “What we’re focused on today is the executive orders that the president has come out and already issued. He’s focused, and I talked to the president last night about this bill. I talked to members of his team about this bill, trying to make it as strong as we possibly can. … Is this bill perfect? It’s not.”
A few Republican lawmakers and allies of the governor criticized the TRUMP Act, such as Hernando County Sen. Blaise Ingoglia. He questioned the provision making Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson the state officer in charge of overseeing immigration issues, and not Gov. DeSantis.
“Why not just keep it with the governor?” Ingoglia asked. “Because it appears that some of the powers you are delegating to the Commissioner of Agriculture in this bill are powers that the governor regularly utilizes. The power to uphold the laws, to levy fines, to get people removed from office for misfeasance or malfeasance, to declare a state of emergency.”
Last-minute changes
A couple of hours ahead of the Senate debate on the bill, Albritton and Perez announced changes that would allow financial penalties against jurisdictions that don’t cooperate with federal immigration agencies. The actual language of the changes didn’t become available to the public until moments before the Senate convened.
“Last night, we requested and received technical assistance from the Trump Administration,” Albritton and Perez wrote in a statement. “We made specific improvements to the TRUMP Act to further align state law with the renewed and expanded enforcement of federal immigration law under President Trump.”
The changes would require death sentences for undocumented immigrants convicted of capital offenses and increase penalties for other crimes.
Although the Republican leaders didn’t take up the bills DeSantis’ allies filed, the TRUMP Act creates an Office of State Immigration Enforcement within the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services charged with serving as the central point of coordination between federal immigration agencies and local and state law enforcement.
“Members, this Trump bill is Trump in name only and bears no resemblance to the man for which it’s named,” said Palm Beach Republican Rep. Michael Caruso, who carried the governor’s proposals in the House. “Gov. DeSantis’ proclamation for the special session was forthright, clear, specific, and included the issues most important to Floridians. I stand with the governor.”
Repeal of in-state tuition for Dreamers
Democrats largely focused on unsuccessfully pushing Republicans to maintain in-state tuition waivers for Dreamers, children brought to the U.S. who lack legal status. Republican Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez spearheaded the effort to establish the waivers for undocumented students in 2014 as a House representative, and then-Gov. Rick Scott signed it.
However, Republicans did not budge on the waivers, even as Democrats argued for a compromise to allow current students to finish their degrees. Democrats’ amendments to protect the waivers failed on the floors of both chambers.
“Here we are saying that despite how hard you’ve worked, we don’t value your work because of your origin,” said Orlando Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani. “I find that to be un-American. I find that to be ethically and morally wrong, and I encourage you to lead in the bipartisan way that this body did nearly a decade ago in supporting this policy, in allowing our Dreamers to continue to dream.”
In the Senate, South Florida Democrat Shevin Jones made an emotional pitch for his colleagues not to ditch the in-state tuition waiver for Dreamers.
“Members, 11 years ago we made a commitment to these young people and now some of us, what we’re doing now, we’re about to go back on our word on what we allowed these individuals to do,” he said, referring to the Legislature’s vote in 2014. “And I want to make it clear that these young people are here because their parents came here. They went to our high schools, and they now are in our colleges and universities.”
More than 6,500 students received the waiver in the 2023-2024 school year, according to a bill analysis. Starting on July 1, Dreamers would be ineligible for the waiver.
Some Democrats raised concerns about a provision that would require state contractors to cooperate to the fullest extent possible with the federal government in enforcing immigration laws.
Orlando-area Democratic state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith asked GOP bill sponsor Joe Gruters if he could provide any examples of the type of business entities that would be required to work with ICE.
Gruters responded by saying that there are 10 “entities” that now work with jails on immigration enforcement.
DeSantis decries ‘swampy politics’
From the get-go, DeSantis publicly called the legislation weak and bashed it for stripping his immigration enforcement powers. The governor’s original plan would have created an immigration chief position under his office. Appearing on Fox News on Monday night, DeSantis called the TRUMP Act ridiculous.
“There’s swampy politics everywhere,” DeSantis said in an interview with Sean Hannity. In a post on X Tuesday morning, the governor attacked Simpson’s record voting for in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants and wrote that the bill “creates a conflict of interest given the agriculture industry’s affinity for cheap, illegal foreign labor.”
“Do we want the fox guarding the henhouse?” DeSantis wrote about Simpson.
How will millions be spent?
The bill has a price tag of $515 million, with $100 million going to a grant program to reimburse law enforcement for subletting detention beds to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, equipment, and training for supporting the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
Under the TRUMP Act, the Unauthorized Alien Transport Program DeSantis used to fly immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022 would come under the purview of Simpson. The governor wanted lawmakers to give him $350 million for that program during the special session.
Local law enforcement who participate in operations with the Department of Homeland Security would be eligible for a one-time bonus of up to $1,000 under the bill, which sets aside $25 million for the incentive program.
What’s next
The bill takes effect upon becoming law.
But there is no deadline for the Legislature to send the bill to the governor. After receiving, it DeSantis will have 15 days to sign it into law, allow it to become law without his signature, or veto it.
If DeSantis were to veto the legislation, lawmakers could attempt an override when it’s next in session.
“If [DeSantis] thinks making sure illegals can get in-state tuition is a good idea, then more power to him. I wouldn’t recommend [vetoing the bill],” Fine told reporters after the Senate vote.
Caruso told reporters ahead of the House vote that there should be another special session if the governor vetoes the bill.
Senior reporter Mitch Perry and reporter Jay Waagmeester contributed to this report.