Florida House and Senate approve new immigration bill

It took four and a half hours of back-and-forth debates for the Florida Senate and Florida House to vote and pass the immigration bill.

Despite several lawmakers expressing concerns that the process was rushed and unconventional, the Senate approved the bill with a vote of 21 yay and 16 nay. The House approved the bill with 82 yay to 30 nay.

The bill will now move to the Governor, who can sign the bill into law or veto it.

If signed by the Governor, the state of Florida is going to see a massive crackdown on illegal immigrants.

During debates in both the House and Senate, things were tense, argumentative and emotional. There was a lot of back and forth, with some lawmakers even on the verge of tears.

Questions on the bill and how it would work came from dozens of lawmakers today especially with the last-minute change of making the death penalty mandatory if an illegal immigrant is convicted of a capital offense.

The bill says any illegal immigrant gets deported and somehow gets back into the United States and commits a crime, it reclassifies criminal penalties.

Senator Joe Gruters introduced the bill.

“President Trump is asking for more badges, more detention beds, and laser focus on catching more criminal illegal aliens who violate our laws. This bill delivers through key funding and partnerships with law enforcement leaders who know what will work best in their communities,” Senator Gruters said.

One concern raised by many democrats is for the children of illegal immigrants, the young people who are already sitting in a classroom. According to the Board of Governors, there are 6,500 illegal immigrant students who will now be stripped of their out-of-state tuition waiver.

This bill if it becomes a law, would force law enforcement participation, incentivizing law enforcement for assisting ICE using a bonus program.

Sheriff Bill Prummell wrote a statement on behalf of the Florida Sheriff’s Association in support of the bill.

“The Florida legislature has worked closely with us to ensure our concerns are heard so we have the tools we need to effectively and efficiently remove criminal aliens from our communities across the state of Florida, thus protecting Floridians and visitors of our great state,” Sheriff Prummel wrote.

Lawmakers consulted the White House on the legislation. They got technical assistance from Trump.

The Florida Senate President and Speaker of the House in a joint statement said insight from the White House last helped direct Florida legislators to make last-minute changes that are more strict.

Even with the bill passing, there are unanswered questions of how some of the terms will be implemented.

This piece of legislation is one of the strongest pieces of immigration legislation we have seen in this country.

In addition, this was a historic special session, something Florida has never seen before. Governor Ron DeSantis called it and lawmakers defied him and instead, introduced their own bill.

This is not a law yet. It’s up to the Governor to sign the bill into law. DeSantis has made very public remarks about his dislike for the way lawmakers removed some of the terms, calling the bill “toothless” just after the vote.