President Donald Trump emerged as the biggest winner Thursday as the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a suite of measures aimed at strengthening enforcement of illegal immigration.
Part of the plan would create a State Board of Immigration Enforcement made up of the governor, agriculture commissioner, attorney general and state chief financial officer.
The board would coordinate immigration enforcement activities with federal officials and dole out $250 million in grants to local law-enforcement agencies to assist federal enforcement efforts.
The measure also would do away with in-state tuition for undocumented immigrant students. A separate bill would make it a state crime to be in the country illegally and would impose the death penalty on undocumented immigrants who commit murders or rape children.
State Senator Don Gaetz says the legislation will make Florida a safer place.
“Illegal immigrants, who shouldn’t have been here in the first place, have committed crimes that devastate families and victimize Floridians. It is our job to deal with this issue,” Gaetz said.
But Democratic State Representative Anna Eskamani said the legislation won’t help most Floridians and is just an attempt to appease President Trump.
