The Florida legislature reconvenes Tuesday morning to debate a proposed immigration bill, following a contentious back-and-forth between lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis.
On Monday, in a coordinated effort, the House Speaker and Senate President announced they were rejecting the governor’s call for a special legislative session, wrapped the session, then started their own.
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WATCH HERE“Our opinions matter, our voices matter,” said Senate President Ben Albritton, who weeks ago, along with his counterpart House Speaker Danny Perez, called the governor’s move “premature.”
“I believe special sessions should be used sparingly. It should not be stunts designed to generate headlines,” Perez said during the special session. “We carefully considered Gov. DeSantis’ proposal, and he had some good ideas, but many of his proposals are bureaucratic.”
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The proposed immigration bill in both chambers, dubbed the “Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy (TRUMP) Act,” calls for the recruitment of more law enforcement, more bed spaces, the jailing of criminals and limiting benefits that bring undocumented migrants to Florida.
Perez proposed investing more than half a billion to help local law enforcement deal with illegal immigration and they’re making the agriculture commissioner the state’s chief immigration officer.
DeSantis was highly of the legislature and blasted lawmakers on social media.
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“The Legislature’s bill is a bait-and-switch tactic trying to create the illusion of an illegal immigration crack down, when it does anything but. It is an insult to name such a weak bill after President Trump,” DeSantis said.
In an additional video, the governor said “the bill they did was window dressing, it is not going to solve this problem.”
Moments later, legislative leaders in a joint response said: “Our number one goal is to work together with President Trump. Anyone that says anything otherwise is not reading the bill, not reading the executive orders, or just not telling the truth.”
Aside from the immigration back-and-forth between legislative leaders and DeSantis, lawmakers touted what they deemed important: the separation of powers.
“Having an autonomous senate and house of representatives is extremely important,” State Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez said.
State Representative Susan Valdes of Tampa said the moment you start to unseparated the powers between government branches, you’re in trouble.
“It’s a historic step in the right in the right direction and it should have been the direction for the last four years,” said State Senator Shevrin Jones, who represents District 34 in South Florida.
