'Isn't being honest': DeSantis' tactics may be unifying Florida Republicans against him

A day after the Florida Republican-controlled Legislature rebuked Ron DeSantis by passing an immigration bill called the TRUMP Act that ignored some of the governor’s priorities, the governor took to the road to blast the measure once again on Wednesday, promising to veto the measure.

“They decided to do a bill that not only won’t work, that actually is weaker than what we have today,” he said during a roundtable discussion at the Brevard County’s Sheriff’s Office in Titusville. “Everything that I’ve proposed is stronger than what the Legislature has done.”

Whether the Legislature, and specifically Senate, has the votes to override the veto, is questionable. The Senate passed its measure 21-16 Monday night, with six Republicans against. Three of those who opposed had offered immigration bills favored by DeSantis that the Legislature ignored. The Legislature’s version passed 82-30 in the House.

Since the new year began, DeSantis almost every day has insisted the Legislature must convene several weeks ahead of its regularly scheduled session to further crack down on illegal immigrants, saying that local and state agencies must be ready to implement executive orders that the Donald Trump administration would issue to begin “mass deportations,”

As Florida GOP lawmakers were passing their own legislation on Tuesday, DeSantis was trashing the bill and Florida Republicans who support it to conservative media outlets across the country, finishing with an appearance on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle. “I’ve never seen a more negative response from the public to the Legislature,” he said.

Whether he will win the hearts and minds of Floridians over the measure pushed by House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton is uncertain.

Objections

DeSantis takes issue with specific provisions in the Legislature’s bill, among them what he called a “catch and release” policy that could allow judges to release illegal immigrants who are detained by law enforcement officers. “That is not keeping the people of this state safe. We need to detain and deport, not catch and release,” he said.

He’s also taking strong objection to the Legislature’s call to move control of immigration matters away from his office and to the office of Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, along with $500 million to implement that program.

“Now they saying that they’re going to give a lot of money, create a new bureaucracy,” he said. “It’s obviously the Commissioner of Agriculture, given how people have come and worked illegally in that industry, is like the fox guarding the henhouse. That’s not where immigration enforcement has typically gone.”

GOP lawmakers “want to neuter” the enforcement that Florida state government is already doing in concert with the federal agencies, he continued. “Their bill would result in fewer deportations than we’re doing right now in the state of Florida.”

Once again appearing with DeSantis during the press conference about immigration was Dave Kerner, executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. He took a full minute before expressing his concerns about the revised bill to laud “the hardest-working, most pro-law enforcement, most effective governor in the United States of America and it’s an honor to work for you, Gov. DeSantis.”

Kerner said the legislation would put “a complete stop to operations at the Florida Highway Patrol,” and he read portions of the law specifying that communications with federal immigration authorities would have to go through the Commissioner of Agriculture’s office.

“To put that roadblock in our way, whether it’s intentional or not, will have a devastating effect on our ability as state law enforcement and local law enforcement to work together,” he said.

Rebuttal

Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez responded via X following DeSantis’ press conference.

“Governor DeSantis isn’t being honest with Floridians about the TRUMP Act,” he wrote.

“The Governor’s proposal leaves out large portions of what the Trump Administration wants to get the job done and end the national scourge of broken borders. Facts matter and the facts are clear: the TRUMP Act puts the President in full control, armed with all the tools needed to execute the most aggressive illegal immigration crackdown in our nation’s history. The TRUMP Act delivers the harshest penalties in the nation for illegal aliens, criminal gangs, and terrorists — including an automatic death sentence for capital offense like murder and the rape of a child. The Governor doesn’t support these harsh penalties — the TRUMP Act makes criminal illegals pay the price.”

Following the House’s passage of the immigration bill, Perez responded to DeSantis and his supporters on the internet who have attacked the Legislature’s bill as weak.

“You’re going to have your handful of politicians, small group of activist[s] and a lot of paid bots on social media trying to gaslight you,” he told his members.

“But we know that truth matters. And simply saying that something is terrible, over and over, doesn’t actually make it true. Threatening others to get your way isn’t leadership, it’s immaturity. The people of our state deserve better. And that’s wrong. What we’re living in right now, that’s wrong. But the people don’t just deserve better, they deserve our best. I’m going to ask you to ignore the melodrama and focus on the work that we have to do.”

Override?

Although it’s not clear what route the Legislature will take when DeSantis vetoes the bill, Miami-Dade County Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones said Democrats are willing to negotiate an override if a provision is stripped repealing in-state college and university tuition rates for students lacking legal status who were brought to the country as children.

“My negotiation starts at in-state tuition. I am not willing to bend on anything if in-state tuition is not reinstated. Period, end of story,” Jones said during the Florida Democratic Party’s press conference Wednesday morning.

Reporter Jackie Llanos contributed to this report.

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