Florida's GOP-Controlled Legislature Strips DeSantis' Immigration Powers: 'We Should Have Accountability'

Florida lawmakers have moved to take nearly all immigration enforcement powers away from Gov. Ron DeSantis, exposing divisions within the state's Republican leadership over the handling of key immigration programs.

The Legislature's decision comes as DeSantis pushed for a special session to expand his migrant relocation program, which has faced scrutiny for a lack of transparency and effectiveness. Lawmakers also raised concerns over his administration's enforcement of E-Verify, a system meant to check the legal status of workers, as reported by the Miami Herald.

In a bill passed Tuesday night, lawmakers transferred control of these programs to Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who will now oversee Florida's immigration enforcement efforts.

In 2022 DeSantis secured $12 million for the relocation program, which he used to fly about 50 migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard. Another flight took migrants from Texas to Sacramento in 2023, but since then, it is unclear how the remaining $9.4 million has been spent.

Top Republican lawmakers said they had no idea how many, if any, migrants were transported from Florida under the program. "That's why we should have accountability," said Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota. The bill gives Simpson authority to review the program's effectiveness and decide whether it should continue. The governor's office did not respond to questions about the program, which is still run by a private contractor.

Lawmakers also rejected DeSantis' request for $350 million to expand the program to send migrants to other countries. "I don't think that the proposal we saw originally in the governor's proposed ideas made a lot of sense, quite frankly," Rep. Lawrence McClure, R-Dover, said Tuesday.

Gruters said the state has only issued eight warning letters to companies for noncompliance with the E-Verify system—none since 2022. McClure added, "There's not a lot of data there, which is concerning." The bill that shifts E-Verify enforcement to Simpson's office also adds 17 staffers for audits.

Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Miami, pointed to a case where a Honduran immigrant in the U.S. illegally killed a sheriff's deputy while working for a state road contractor. DeSantis did not penalize the company, and the state's investigation was two pages long. "The bottom line is, the governor is not good at this," Pizzo said. Sen. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne Beach, said the shift in authority makes sense. "The governor has more to do than Wilton Simpson does," he said. "He's got a state to run."