(The Center Square) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced an agreement between the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol.
The agreement will allow state troopers to act as immigration enforcement officers for the federal government, something that Dave Kerner, the executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, hasn’t been allowed during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
DeSantis accused lawmakers of “kneecapping” immigration enforcement efforts with the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy Act, the TRUMP Act, which was passed by lawmakers on Tuesday before leaving Tallahassee. He has spoke out against the bill daily since its passage.
“They thought if they put Trump’s name on a weak bill that people would just say the bill must be good because Trump is popular,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Destin on Friday. “People have seen through that. They created a piece of legislation that not only didn’t answer the call and help deliver on the mandate given by the American people, they did things that will make it worse to combat illegal immigration than we’re even doing now.
“I’ve never seen voters react so negatively to a piece of legislation.”
The TRUMP Act is sponsored by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, in the upper chamber and Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, in the lower. It would put Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson as chief immigration officer with responsibility for acting as a liaison between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies on immigration.
The bill would also allocate $500 million for immigration enforcement for state and local law enforcement agencies.
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.
Kerner said the TRUMP Act violates the concept of the unitary executive by curtailing the governor’s powers on immigration enforcement.
He also said the TRUMP Act requires any local law enforcement agency that seeks state help for immigration must go through the agriculture commissioner rather than contacting that agency directly.
“If a local governmental entity or local law enforcement agency requests assistance regarding federal immigration laws from a state entity or state law enforcement agency, that local governmental entity or local law enforcement agency must coordinate the request through the office,” the bill text says.
