TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A revised immigration package cleared its only committee stops in the Florida House and Senate Wednesday afternoon and is now ready for final votes.
The bills deliver much of what Governor Ron DeSantis had initially asked for, but not everything.
RELATED: Source: Gov. DeSantis and Florida Legislature reach new deal on immigration reform
The trio of bills would stiffen penalties for crimes committed by people in the country illegally and would even mandate the death penalty for capital offenses committed by those in the country illegally.
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“You’ve committed one of those crimes and you’re here in the country illegally, you’re getting the max,” said State Representative Sam Garrison (R-Fleming Island).
Lacking legal status in the country would also become a state-level crime and designate someone a flight risk when determining bail.
Democrats questioned the constitutionality of the measures.
“This particular bill violates the equal protection clause. It’s creating different classes of people,” said State Representative Michele Rayner (D-St. Petersburg).
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Local and state law enforcement would also be required to participate in immigration enforcement and hundreds of millions of dollars would be made available for reimbursements, grants, and bonuses to aid cooperation.
Jonathan Webber with the Southern Poverty Law Center argued immigration should be handled by the federal government.
“This bill forces judges and prosecutors and law enforcement into a role that they are simply not trained for, increasing wrongful detentions,” said Webber.
The revised immigration package gives the governor the ability to suspend local officials who refuse to comply with immigration authorities.
It was a key ask that was missing in the first bill passed by lawmakers in January.
Notably, Senate sponsor Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) defended the legislature’s decision to scale back the state’s controversial migrant flight program in the new bill.
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That program previously allowed the governor to contract migrant flights like the one sent to Martha’s Vineyard back in 2022, but under the new proposal, any transportation effort would need federal involvement and approval.
“President Trump has already closed the border, so there’s no need for political-type events like that anymore and so, it’s completely irrelevant,” said Gruters.
The bill does still include a repeal of in-state tuition rates for Dreamers.
DACA recipients have been eligible for the lower rates since 2014, so long as they’ve attended at least three years at a Florida high school.ter]
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