Florida lawmakers passed a sweeping immigration bill Tuesday, setting aside half a billion dollars in public funds to help carry out President Trump's crackdown on those in the country illegally. Following more than four hours of deliberations on Tuesday, Florida's Republican-dominated Legislature passed the measure largely along party lines. The passage sets up a showdown between Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and state legislative leaders, who have sparred over whose proposals would better carry out Trump's immigration crackdown. DeSantis has called the bill "weak," reports the AP.
Lawmakers pushed the 80-plus page bill—titled the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy, or TRUMP Act—through in a special session. Republican lawmakers filed the bill after rejecting immigration proposals by DeSantis, a rebuke to the lame duck governor who was once floated as Trump's successor. In a state where roughly one in every five residents is an immigrant, the legislation would require every level of government—as well as government contractors—to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement "to the fullest extent possible."
"The whole goal of this bill is to help President Trump do his job," said Republican Sen. Gruters, one of the bill sponsors. "He wants maximum coordination with local government." Notably, one Republican in the House and six in the Senate voted against the measure, leaving the bill short of a veto-proof majority. "I cannot vote for this because it is nowhere near strong enough for my taste," said Republican Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, an ally of the governor. The amendments included enhancing penalties for all crimes committed in the state by people in the country illegally, and requires that those convicted of capital offenses receive the death penalty.
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The measure passed by lawmakers Tuesday would create a new state immigration enforcement office with more than 140 employees under the direction of a newly minted chief immigration officer, a post to be taken by the state's commissioner of agriculture. But the Republican sponsors declined to include some of DeSantis' provisions, like restrictions on people in the country illegally sending money overseas and a measure that would have created a legal presumption that people in the country illegally are a flight risk. Now DeSantis must weigh whether to sign a proposal he's bashed in public as "toothless" and "watered-down" or veto it. He could also decline to sign the bill, allowing it to become law.
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