Defying DeSantis: Florida lawmakers quickly move immigration bill through special session

Florida Republicans trumped Gov. Ron DeSantis' immigration agenda on Monday with their own version of legislation , igniting a flame war online that lasted well into the evening and Tuesday morning.

Still, even as DeSantis called the new bill ( SB 2B / HB 1B ) "weaker" and criticized the Legislature's "theatrics" on social media , House and Senate Republicans pushed their legislation through committees.

The Senate bill's author, Sarasota Republican and Trump supporter Joe Gruters, called it a "solid product," adding, "I like our path better."

The bill would cost over $500 million to implement , according to the bill's staff analysis. It still has much of what DeSantis proposed .

But in a big about-face, the Legislature shifted authority over state-level immigration enforcement from the governor to the commissioner of agriculture, which is currently held by Wilton Simpson, a Trilby Republican.

The bill would establish the agriculture commissioner as the state's chief immigration officer and create a State Immigration Enforcement Council, a board of seven county sheriffs tasked with providing recommendations to the state and to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

"The guy is a leader, and there's nobody that wants to please President Trump more than Wilton Simpson, believe me," said Gruters, who's been dubbed the "OG" Trump supporter in Florida and also is now treasurer of the Republican National Committee.

What is the TRUMP Act? Florida Legislature defies DeSantis, introduces own immigration bill

DeSantis, in a social media video clip , said that was "bizarre" and "puts the fox in charge of the hen house," alluding that it would ensure employment requirements regarding legal status would not be followed.

Like Gruters, Simpson has had a mostly frosty relationship with DeSantis since he's been in statewide office, though it was more collaborative when he was Florida Senate president.

Sniping online between DeSantis, his staff and supporters and Simpson and legislative leaders continued through Tuesday morning, the possible last day of the special session.

On social media, DeSantis continued to bash Simpson's record in the Legislature, saying he "voted to give drivers licenses and in-state tuition to illegals." Simpson retorted, "I'm not the one who opposed and ran against President Trump," a dig at DeSantis' failed run for president.

Both House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton, who denounced the governor's posts on social media, called his statement "outrageous" and said it "maligns the hard working farmers who work day and night to keep food on grocery stores shelves across Florida."

Simpson responded to the governor's office on social media on Monday night when DeSantis press secretary Jeremy Redfern accused the agriculture department's law enforcement of inaction during what he called "Biden's Border Crisis."

"You can insult and spread lies about me all day long, I can take it," Simpson said. "But do not insult the officers at Ag Law. They serve honorably and have not been on the sidelines in this fight."

What is in the Florida Legislature's immigration bill?

The bill, "Tackling & Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy," or TRUMP Act, is Florida legislative leaders' way of delivering on Trump's promises regarding illegal immigration.

In committee, Democrats in both the House and Senate tried to remove a measure that would repeal in-state tuition for immigrant students at public universities who entered the country illegally. But their amendments failed, with Republicans in the supermajority holding the line.

"We're taking the benefits away. We're not saying you can't go to school. We're just saying you're not going to get in-state tuition," said state Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, the House bill's sponsor.

The bill also includes increasing penalties for voting for noncitizens, to a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison from a third-degree felony (five years).

It also adds penalties if someone helps a noncitizen vote and it increases the penalties for a crime if the person has entered the country illegally.

In the Senate committee meeting, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri – also a Republican – said he would support the bill and that it was "good policy" for the state.

The bill walked back a part of DeSantis' agenda that would have mandated law enforcement's compliance with immigration officials and create penalties, including suspension of officials, if they didn't comply.

It was one of Albritton's sticking points about DeSantis' proposal. In the Senate president's speech Monday morning, he said he did not support creating criminal penalties against front-line officers.

Gualtieri assured Senate Democrats that the federal government's immigration enforcement was focused "100 percent" on people who have committed a crime, are a public safety or national security threat, and on people who have been removed but have returned to the country illegally.

"Their focus is not, which is the core and really the epitome of the immigration debate and dilemma, the mom who's been here for 15 years, who's got three kids, who works in the hospitality industry and has done nothing wrong," Gualtieri said.

The bill passed with all Senate Democrats voting no. State Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, said she didn't understand why the issue needed a special session at all.

"This is not the way to govern," she said. "Immigration is obviously not an easy issue, which is why it hasn't been solved in all these years. It is not something we should do without the benefit of experts, without the benefit of citizens, without the benefit of advocates."

Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at  agonilessan@gannett.com . 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida Legislature pushes own immigration bill, earning DeSantis' ire