TITUSVILLE, Fla. – At a roundtable Wednesday morning at the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in Titusville, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to veto the new immigration act the legislature passed Tuesday.
We don’t have time for weakness or half-baked measures," DeSantis said during a press conference Wednesday. “We’ve got to be strong. We need to lead the way when it comes to immigration enforcement.”
The bill, which aims to align Florida’s immigration policies with federal enforcement efforts, shifts key immigration authority from the governor’s office to the state’s Agriculture Commissioner. DeSantis sharply criticized this move, calling it a “setup for failure.”
“Why would you give it to the Agriculture Commissioner?” he said. “We already have agencies in place working under the governor’s office. Most of our biggest critics acknowledge we handle crises and emergencies very well here in Florida.”
DeSantis warned that the bill would hinder law enforcement efforts, making it harder for state agencies to collaborate with federal immigration officials.
Supporters of the legislation argue that it strengthens Florida’s immigration policies in coordination with federal initiatives. However, DeSantis maintains it does the opposite, weakening state enforcement and existing programs like E-Verify, which screens employment eligibility.
“We want to strengthen E-Verify in Florida,” he said. “They actually weaken what we already have.”
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey echoed DeSantis' concerns, saying local and state authorities must be part of the solution.
“The feds cannot do this by themselves,” Ivey said. “They have to have their local and state partners joining them.”
DeSantis made it clear that unless changes are made, the bill will not become law.
With a veto looming, the focus now shifts back to the state legislature. Lawmakers will have to decide whether to revise the bill or attempt an override of the governor’s decision.
The roundtable follows another held last week in in Duval County with Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, who spoke in support of DeSantis’ proposals targeting illegal immigration. On that matter the governor has sought to hit the ground running as President Trump continues issuing the first orders of his new administration.
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“They named it the TRUMP Act because they think if they put his name on it, people will think- voters here are looking at the details on this because they want to solve the problem. They know these politicians have been giving lip service to voters for years, then when they have an opportunity to do something, they do half-baked measures and don’t get the job done. We don’t have time for weakness,” DeSantis said. “(...) So, what do we need to do? First, we need to end catch-and-release of illegal aliens, so we have a proposal to make sure that there’s a presumption that illegal aliens arrested and brought before a judge on charges, that they’re detained, and if they’re detained without bail, then you can contact the immigration and immigration can pick them up, and then they can deport them from the country. The bill that the legislature passed doesn’t provide a presumption.”
DeSantis will next be at Florida Gulf Coast University near Fort Myers for another roundtable at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, this time only featuring Kerner.
Watch the Titusville roundtable again in the video player below or by clicking here.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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