Governor Ron DeSantis has called a special session of the Florida legislature to begin January 27 to discuss among other things immigration reform.
DeSantis said the Florida legislature will be tasked with writing laws that require state and local law enforcement to comply with and carry out new federal immigration mandates under the upcoming Trump administration, and to punish any local municipality or actors that try to defy these orders.
“There also needs to be measures to hold people accountable who are violating our anti-sanctuary policies, and then Florida needs to make sure that we don't have any lingering incentives for people to come into our state illegally,” said DeSantis.
The governor said he’s previewed several of these mandates at meetings with President-elect Trump, including at a recent meeting with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago last week.
But he was mum on what they said, hinting only that extending what’s known as 287(g) contracts might be part of these mandates. These contracts deputize local and state law enforcement officers to act as immigration or ICE agents, to “identify, process, and detain immigration offenders.”
Trump himself has threatened mass deportation of people who are in the country illegally.
The governor said he also wants to see an immediate end to in-state tuition for undocumented students, which he calls an incentive for illegal immigration, during this special session.
“No more excuses on this. We need to remove all incentives to come to the state of Florida illegally, and that is one of them. So we have the responsibility to act, and we will,” said DeSantis.
DeSantis said he expects enforcing these new immigration mandates could cost the state of Florida tens of millions of dollars, which could be used to expand law enforcement’s immigration efforts and to build more detention facilities in the state.
He says hurricane relief funding and condo reform will also be discussed during the special session.
The state’s regular legislative session begins March 4.
Local Democratic Representative Anna Eskamani spoke out against the special session, calling it a waste of taxpayer dollars and a political spectacle.
“Floridians are struggling with skyrocketing housing and insurance costs, unaffordable healthcare, and stagnant wages,” said Eskamani in a statement. “Instead of addressing these pressing issues, Governor DeSantis is prioritizing attacks on immigrants, undermining our democratic process, and giving himself more power to override the will of the people.”
Listen to the governor’s full press conference here:
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