(The Center Square) – Gov. Ron DeSantis says he will veto an immigration bill passed by lawmakers that he says doesn’t go far enough and will actually hamstring state and local law enforcement officers on immigration enforcement duties.
The second-term Republican governor spoke at a roundtable in Palm Beach on Thursday as he continues to rail against the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy Act, the TRUMP Act passed by lawmakers on Tuesday before they left Tallahassee.
“Of any piece of legislation I’ve contemplated, this is the most overwhelming response in favor of veto,” DeSantis said. “Overwhelming response, but if even if it wasn’t, the merits (of the bill) are indefensible.”
DeSantis also said lawmakers will hear from their constituents on an issue that he says isn’t going away.
“You owe an explanation on why you voted the way you did and if your vote went against how you campaigned, you owe an explanation there,” DeSantis said.
Both chambers convened and then gaveled out of the special session ordered by DeSantis on Tuesday and into a new one that had only one bill.
The TRUMP Act is sponsored by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, in the upper chamber and Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, in the lower.
The bill passed 82-30 in the House with two Republicans and 28 Democrats voting against and 21-16 in the Senate, with four Republicans joining 12 Democrats in opposition. If those numbers hold, that won’t be enough for the chambers to override a veto.
The bill designates the agriculture commissioner – Wilton Simpson, a Republican, was elected to a four-year term in November 2022 – as chief immigration officer.
He would be the central liaison between federal, state and local officials, but one part of the bill especially rankles DeSantis.
Under the TRUMP Act, state and local law enforcement would be required to go through Simpson’s office before making contact with federal officials, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At present, there is no restriction on contact between federal, state and local agencies.
DeSantis says that will hamstring cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal agencies.
He also criticized lawmakers ignoring addressing his priorities in the TRUMP Act, such as no ban on remittances of funds home by undocumented migrants and a failure to ban bail for those in the country illegally arrested for a crime.
The TRUMP Act, as pointed out by DeSantis, has no requirement for state and local law enforcement participation in Trump’s deportation efforts, removes constitutional enforcement powers from the governor and didn’t ban undocumented migrants from registering to vote.
The bill would appropriate more than $500 million to assist state and local law enforcement agencies help President Donald Trump’s administration with deportations.
The legislation expands requirements passed in 2022 that a sheriff operating a county detention facility must enter into a written agreement with ICE to include jails that aren’t operated by a sheriff. It would also end in-state tuition for people living in or entering the country illegally.
“When we first talked to the President’s team, that’s where we got beds, badges, and bad guys,” Gruters said on the Senate floor on Wednesday. “We stand with President Trump and we stand with local law enforcement.”