DeSantis to Veto Florida Immigration Bill, Calling It Too Weak

(Bloomberg) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he’ll veto an immigration bill passed by the Republican-led legislature, dismissing it as too “weak” and accusing lawmakers of watering down efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.

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“They are going to kneecap the state’s ability to combat illegal immigration,” DeSantis said in a press conference on Wednesday.

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The bill, approved late Tuesday during a special legislative session, has exposed a rare divide between the governor and GOP legislative leaders. House and Senate leaders resisted DeSantis’s tougher proposals, saying it was premature to enact state-level measures that go beyond former President Donald Trump’s federal immigration policies, and instead sponsored a different bill.

The legislation would cede immigration enforcement oversight from the governor’s office to the state’s agriculture commissioner, allocate $500 million to expand local law enforcement’s role in immigration enforcement, and eliminate in-state tuition eligibility for undocumented students at Florida’s public universities.

But DeSantis says the bill lacks even tougher measures that he wanted, such as restrictions on remittances and a presumption that undocumented immigrations are flight risks in court proceedings.

The Republican-controlled legislature would need a two-thirds majority in both the Florida House and Senate to overturn the governor’s veto. DeSantis has said that’s an unlikely scenario, given that some Republican senators voted against the bill.

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