Florida’s lawmakers returned to Tallahassee on Feb. 11 for their third attempt at a special session focused on passing legislation that expedites President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
This time, Republican leadership appears united with a new list of bills that would, among other things, strengthen the required duties of state and local law enforcement agencies to assist federal agencies.
The proposed legislation also expands the amount and severity of criminal penalties illegal immigrants could face, even just by entering the state.
Other legislation would create an immigration board to act as a resource for state, local, and federal entities.
“We have a responsibility to enact policies that will help end the illegal immigration crisis once and for all, and our Republican leaders have been working tirelessly to do just that,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a statement announcing the special session.
He thanked Senate President Ben Albritton and Speaker Danny Perez for their cooperation in creating “an aggressive bill that we can stand fully behind,” after the previous special session ended with the three leaders and most of the GOP’s legislative supermajority divided.
“What’s magical about Florida’s political process is that disagreements do occur,” Albritton said in the Senate Chamber on Feb. 11. ”That means that everyone is thinking for themselves and trying to come up with the best solution.
“Floridians deserve state leaders to share ideas, and in the end, with those Floridians in mind, come together. I know we'll all work well together over the next two years, and there’s a lot to look forward to.”
Three bills submitted by Sen. Joe Gruters and Rep. Lawrence McClure are up for consideration this week, with a vote scheduled for Feb. 13.
It would also create criminal offenses for entering and reentering the state illegally.
According to the bill’s text, an illegal immigrant over the age of 18 caught entering the state illegally will be charged with a misdemeanor of the first degree, facing a mandatory minimum sentence of nine months in prison.
A second violation would be treated as a third-degree felony with a mandatory minimum of one year and one day in prison, and two or more violations would face a minimum of two years.
That is if the adult-aged illegal immigrant was not also charged with additional crimes.
An illegal immigrant who is a gang member would automatically face the maximum penalty for a crime and the bill would increase the requirement of pretrial detention for those who commit violent felonies.
The bill would also make voting in any election as a noncitizen in the United States a felony, and any person found assisting or encouraging a noncitizen to vote would also be found guilty of a felony charge.
The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles would be prohibited from issuing identification cards or driver’s licenses to any unauthorized, undocumented, and illegal immigrants, and out-of-state tuition waivers will be removed for students who are not U.S. citizens or legal residents.
The bill would also establish the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, comprised of the governor, commissioner of agriculture, attorney general, and chief financial officer.
The board would have an eight-member council comprised of four sheriffs appointed by the senate president and house speaker and four police chiefs that are each selected individually by the Agriculture Commissioner, the governor, the attorney general, and the chief financial officer.
That council would represent local law enforcement agencies operating their jurisdictions in better union with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
If the bill became law, agencies would work with ICE to help identify and detain criminal illegal immigrants and expand information sharing to assist ICE in enforcing immigration law and targeting transnational criminal organizations.
County jails would be required to provide ICE with the immigration status of inmates.
The council would be tasked with advising the board on law enforcement efforts, recommending strategies to increase detention bed numbers, facilitating the training of local law enforcement, and providing other coordination with the federal level.
Sheriffs and chiefs would be allowed to select programs that they find are the most effective within their jurisdiction. They would receive training support and funding to pay for apprenticeships and other incentives for Floridians to join law enforcement.
All three bills are scheduled to go before the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Budgetary Committee on Feb. 12.
