FL Lawmakers Reject DeSantis' Special Session, Call Their Own

TALLAHASSEE, FL — A special legislative session that started Monday as scheduled by Gov. Ron DeSantis to prepare for Florida to take the lead on revised immigration policies now that President Donald Trump is in office has hit a roadblock.

Lawmakers gaveled out of the special session, then called their own to take up their own immigration legislation, which differs from the bills proposed by DeSantis, WFLA reported.

Lawmakers were also asked to take up a proposal to make it more difficult to place citizen-led constitutional amendments on the ballot; provide hurricane relief; and deal with condominium safety, the Florida Phoenix reported.

But GOP lawmakers pushed back against some of DeSantis' plans, with the House and Senate voting to override the governor's veto last year of an appropriation of $57 million for the Legislature’s operating budget.

“In the last week, attempts have been made to bully members of this House, including sending out mass emails and text messages with members’ personal cellphone numbers on them,” Florida House Speaker Danny Perez said, per WFLA. “Attacks on this body, attacks on all of you, will not be tolerated. This House will never be moved by threats.

NBC News said state GOP leaders instead proposed legislation that would remove immigration enforcement from the governor’s authority and instead give the title of “chief immigration officer” to the state’s agricultural commissioner.

Florida Agricultural Commissioner Wilton Simpson, a Republican, may run for governor in 2026, when DeSantis becomes term-limited.

Perez said 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,” he said, according to the Phoenix.

The Legislature will wait to deal with the ballot process, condos, and hurricane relief during the regular session, lawmakers decided.

DeSantis called the special session for the week of Jan. 27, a week after Trump was sworn in for a second term on Jan. 20.

Trump's mass deportation plans include border security and could affect an estimated 11 million people who are deemed illegal immigrants in the U.S., the Associated Press reported.

DeSantis said state resources to impose the federal program include funding that will be allocated and support from state and local officials.

"We have no time to waste," DeSantis said in a statement. "Florida must lead."

“State and local officials in Florida must help the Trump administration enforce our nation’s immigration laws,” DeSantis said. “In order to do that effectively, we are going to need legislation to impose additional duties on local officials and provide funding for those local officials.”

The Republican governor said he's prepared to suspend elected officials from office if they are “neglecting their duties” under the new immigration mandates, and that he would consider activating the Florida National Guard and the Florida State Guard to carry out in-state enforcement measures.

DeSantis said he anticipates allocating tens of millions of dollars in new funding to help state and local officials expand their enforcement and detention efforts.

“There also needs to be measures to hold people accountable who are violating our anti-sanctuary policies,” he said. “Florida needs to make sure that we don’t have any lingering incentives for people to come into our state illegally.”

In June 2019, DeSantis approved Senate Bill 168, which forbade sanctuary policies in Florida and permitted law-enforcement agencies "to transport an alien unlawfully present in the United States under certain circumstances," according to the legislation.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.