TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Republicans on Thursday passed legislation they called the “strongest” immigration enforcement bill in any state after a fight that amplified political tensions within the party as they aimed to help President Donald Trump.
Over the past two weeks, Republican leaders in the state have feuded with Gov. Ron DeSantis over the direction of immigration reform in Florida. The fighting has spilled over at times into nasty, personal territory on social media, with DeSantis supporters on one side and GOP legislative leadership mostly on the receiving end.
All that took a back seat Thursday when DeSantis signed the legislation flanked by state House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton.
“Today the Florida Legislature has passed the strongest legislation to combat illegal immigration of any state in the entire country,” DeSantis said moments before he signed the bill.
DeSantis had pledged to veto legislation lawmakers originally passed last month that would have stripped him of much of his immigration authority.
Trump was actively engaged, talking to both DeSantis and legislative allies two weeks ago during the first round of negotiations, but he did not directly get involved as a final immigration deal was hashed out, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
His presence, though, could be felt throughout the day in the state Capitol.
“It is about maximum coordination and collaboration with President Trump,” said one of Florida’s biggest Trump allies, state Sen. Joe Gruters, the recently elected treasurer of the Republican National Committee.
It was a consistent theme throughout the day, as Republican lawmakers in the state acknowledged that immigration is a federal-focused policy — but they said they wanted to align Florida laws with changes Trump made to place Florida in a position to help the administration. Florida’s undocumented immigrant population is estimated at over 1 million, among the most of any state.
Even Democrats who opposed the bill noted Trump’s influence over the process. And Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo voted no but said he agreed with most of the bill, which boosts funding for local law enforcement to amp up immigration enforcement and increases penalties for undocumented people who commit crimes in the state. Throughout the process, the state’s top Senate Democrat has positioned himself with Republicans on many issues as he eyes a 2026 run for governor in a state Trump just carried by 13 points.
He noted the bill does not mention “deportations” one time.
Pizzo voted against the bill because of a provision that would strip in-state tuition waivers for “Dreamers” — people who were brought to the United States as young children by their parents. Florida Republicans passed a law in 2014, which then-Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed, that offered in-state tuition rates to those students, but since then, the mood of the Republican Party has shifted on immigration, and the waivers have been a top DeSantis target.
It is estimated that the removal of the waivers would affect just over 6,000 students in Florida’s higher education system, many of whom may leave school because of increased tuition costs.
“They will drop out,” Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith said. “You have priced them out of higher education.”
Proposals passed Thursday and signed by DeSantis also create a mandatory death penalty sentence for undocumented immigrants who commit murder, a proposal that got pushback from Democrats and a handful of Republicans who oppose capital punishment. Much of the criticism was centered on the idea that the measure is unconstitutional and will almost certainly face costly legal challenges.
“I think the reason this is fair is 100% of cases when an illegal immigration commits a crime, if they followed the law in the first place and not been here, the crime would not have been committed,” said Sen. Randy Fine, a chief architect of the plan who is on a path to join Congress this spring, as he runs for the seat vacated by Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Fine acknowledged he believes the provision will be challenged in court, but he said the courts could very well rule in Florida’s favor.
The underlying bills would also create harsher penalties for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes, require the maximum penalty for undocumented immigrants who belong to gangs who commit crimes, create a felony charge for any undocumented immigrant in the state who votes, require greater cooperation on immigration between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities and increase funding for immigration efforts in the state.
Democrats who opposed the bill are vastly outnumbered in the state, but they made a series of arguments against it, including pointing out that immigration is a federal issue and saying the state should not be footing the bill.
“$300 million is going to be appropriated [in the bill] for this, on top of all the money you are paying the federal government,” Democratic Sen. Tina Polsky said.
But the pressure among Republicans to pass legislation to help Trump’s mass deportation plans won out.
“We have taken incredible steps over the past 10 days to be with President Trump,” Albritton said at the bill signing ceremony.
