TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Unexpected, unprecedented and unbelievable were just a few words that were uttered Monday inside the Florida Capitol after state lawmakers rejected the governor's special session on immigration and created one of their own.
After gaveling for less than 30 minutes, lawmakers ditched the governor's pitch for immigration, condo, petition reform and hurricane relief.
WATCH BELOW: Florida lawmakers rebuke Gov. DeSantis' call for special session
They will now consider just one bill in both chambers this week, believing the other issues can wait until March.
The legislation will replace 11 ideas from DeSantis allies and focus exclusively on immigration.
Perez said the lawmaker special session this week will consider one omnibus bill in both the House and Senate that aims to:
- Repeal in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants
- Makes Florida Agriculture Secretary an immigration tsar
- Gives the state more power to enforce immigration law without creating "a mini ICE"
In a rebuke of the governor, the house speaker said that special legislative sessions should be reserved for issues that "truly cannot be addressed in the normal course" of the legislative process and not "stunts designated to generate headlines."
"Most of the issues raised in the proclamation (by the governor) simply do not meet that threshold," Perez said.
However, Perez said DeSantis' call for a special session "had some good ideas" but "many of his proposals are bureaucratic."
"We do not need to duplicate the functions of U.S. Immigration and Customs and create a mini-me version of ICE," Perez said.
The speaker said the governor's proposals would "hijack" local law enforcement operations.
It doesn't appear that state lawmakers this week will address the other big topics the governor wanted — condo reform, hurricane relief, ballot petition reform. GOP leaders said they wanted to wait for the March regular session.
The governor has sought new laws on immigration and ballot initiative reform, saying there is no time to waste. Legislators have said they want to address these issues at their regular session in March.
Five DeSantis allies in the House (2) and Senate (3) on Sunday filed a total of 22 bills that expand state powers on immigration enforcement, deportation and require local law officers to adhere to federal migration programs. They also cover a repeal of in-state tuition for undocumented migrants.
The governor posted a lengthy statement on X Monday, applauding the move by lawmakers to "come in and do their job" but said their bill was "substantially weaker" than the proposals he outlined.
"We need strong immigration legislation that ensures Florida is doing everything it can to assist this important federal mission," DeSantis' statement said. "The Legislature's bill is a bait-and-switch tactic trying to create the illusion of an illegal immigration crack down."
Read Perez's full comments below:
There has been a great deal of speculation on how we will respond to this special session call.
It has been speculated that we will be gaveling in today and gaveling out.
And that is true, but it’s not the whole story.
Members, this morning, President Albritton and I filed with the Secretary of State a call for a Special Session to convene at 10:45. We will gavel out of Special Session A, and we will immediately gavel into the legislatively-called Special Session B.
I believe Special Sessions should be used sparingly. They should not be stunts designed to generate headlines. I dislike Special Sessions because they inhibit the very thing the legislative process should encourage: the push and pull of meaningful conversations that lead to the development of good and better ideas. Special Sessions should be reserved for those issues that truly cannot be addressed in the normal course of the legislative process.
Most of the issues raised in the proclamation for Special Session A simply do not meet that threshold. Session is only weeks away. We have the opportunity to move both expeditiously and thoughtfully. We do not have choose between right now and getting it right.
Many of you represent districts impacted by natural disasters or have condominiums. You deserve to be a part of the conversation on those issues. The tragedy of the collapse in Surfside is a painful reminder of what happens when we don’t get the law right. We all know how hard Representative Vicki Lopez has been working on this issue. I am confident that Representative Lopez, in consultation with Chair Salzman and Chair Buchanan, will bring before this House a bill that is thoughtful and meaningful.
The constitution contains a ballot initiative process that was designed to give a voice to Floridians. However, that process has been infected by big money special interests. I believe ballot initiatives need reform. However, I do not believe that we – as elected officials – should slip into a special session and in a couple of days try to ram through changes to laws that affect the rights of the very voters who sent us here to Tallahassee. I have asked Representative Persons-Mulicka to take point on this issue and to work in conjunction with Chair Chaney and Chair Robinson to develop meaningful proposals to protect our citizens initiative process from being abused.
Now illegal immigration represents an entirely different matter. President Albritton and I stated in our letter that we wanted to wait until President Trump was inaugurated, and he had an opportunity to give direction on this critical issue. We carefully studied President Trump’s executive orders and had conversations with the White House.
For the last four years, the Federal government has pursued an unlawful immigration policy that made a mockery of our national sovereignty. The American people have resoundingly rejected the policy of open borders, and President Trump is moving decisively to address this crisis.
There are actions that Florida must undertake now in order to quickly align with President Trump’s directives. Unfortunately, the Governor’s proclamation was just too narrow to accomplish all of the things that we must do to assist President Trump.
We did carefully consider Governor DeSantis’ proposal, and he had some good ideas. But many of his proposals are bureaucratic. We do not need to duplicate the functions of U.S. Immigration and Customs and create a mini-me version of ICE. In addition, his proposals would hijack local law enforcement operations and at one point, he even proposed arresting local law enforcement officers.
The immigration bill that Representative McClure will be shepherding through this House, the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy Act, goes in the opposite direction – we are tearing down barriers and creating an express lane between Federal immigration enforcement and local law enforcement. Our bill embodies the Four Bs:
(1) recruit and empower more BADGES,
(2) build more BEDS,
(3) lock up more BAD GUYS, and
(4) limit BENEFITS that draw illegal aliens into Florida.
We will invest more than half a billion dollars to assist local law enforcement in combatting illegal immigration without diminishing their ability to protect and serve their communities. We will turn Florida into a national destination for training law enforcement officers to collaborate with Federal immigration officials. We will sublet vacant facilities for use by ICE and create new capacity. We will enhance criminal penalties and ensure that when the bad guys are illegal aliens, we turn them over to ICE for immediate deportation.
We need a singular point of focus in state government for coordinating immigration. We need an agency with broad reach in the state, and experience working with the Federal Government and law enforcement. For that reason, we have chosen to designate the Commissioner of Agriculture to serve as the state’s Chief Immigration Officer. In fact the position we now know as the Commissioner of Agriculture actually began in Florida as the Commissioner of Immigration.
We will discontinue the policy of allowing illegal aliens to receive in-state tuition at state colleges and universities.
The bill we will bring before this body will impose a duty on every state and local agency to fully cooperate with and share information with Federal immigration and border security officials. We will create more badges, detain more bad guys, and provide more beds. Under this bill, we will ensure that Florida is working harder than any other state to support President Trump in his efforts to restore integrity to our nation’s borders.
Members, before we conclude our business in Special Session A and begin our work in Special Session B, I do need to address one issue. I fully understood when I took this office that attacks and criticism came with the gavel. I’m very comfortable with that. However, in the last week, attempts have been made to bully members of this House including sending out mass e-mails with Members personal cell phone numbers on them. Attacks on this body – attacks on all of you – are not acceptable. This House will never be moved by threats. I will always have an open door and an open mind, but if someone tries to force me to choose sides – Members, please know that I will always choose yours.
Read the governor's full statement below:
"Though the Florida legislature's leadership initially said the call for a special session on immigration enforcement was “premature,” they have now finally agreed to come in and do their job.
I am glad the Legislature’s bill includes many of my proposals, including the long-overdue need to eliminate tuition waivers for illegal immigrant students. But overall, their new bill is substantially weaker than the proposals I outlined and that are necessary to ensure that Florida leads on fulfilling the Trump Administration’s mandate to enforce immigration law and deport illegal aliens:
-It fails to put an enforceable duty on state & local law enforcement to fully cooperate on illegal immigration enforcement. This means that Florida localities will provide no meaningful assistance to federal efforts.
-It unconstitutionally removes authority to enforce the law from the governor to a lower-level cabinet agency, the department of agriculture, that does not oversee state law enforcement and whose stakeholders often oppose enforcement measures.
By giving enforcement power to the agricultural arm of state government, it ensures that enforcement never actually occurs. In short, it puts the fox in charge of the hen house.
This is a unique moment in American history. We are either going to reclaim our sovereignty, uphold the law, and protect our citizens or allow this moment to slip away.
We need strong immigration legislation that ensures Florida is doing everything it can to assist this important federal mission. 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, who has been so strong on this issue."
