By Ana Ceballos
Miami Herald
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Thursday two wide-ranging immigration enforcement bills that will usher in a new wave of requirements that aim to ensure Florida is well-positioned to help President Donald Trump identify and deport scores of immigrants who are in the country illegally.
“Everything in this bill was designed to be helpful to the Trump administration with their plans,” said Sen. Randy Fine , a Melbourne Republican who co-sponsored the bills in the Senate .
The provisions in the new laws — written after the governor threatened to veto different immigration legislation passed last month — will enhance criminal penalties for individuals based on their immigration status, require local law enforcement agencies to share information about detainees with federal immigration officials, and allow DeSantis to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in possible deportation efforts.
The new requirements come with a price tag — a little over $300 million in state funds — to help carry out different aspects of the state’s immigration enforcement efforts, such as bonuses for law enforcement officers who cooperate with federal immigration operations and money to cover the expense of sharing county and state detention beds with ICE.
“Today, the Florida Legislature has passed the strongest legislation to combat illegal immigration of any state in the entire country,” DeSantis said shortly before signing the bills and promising to enthusiastically enforce Florida’s new laws.
Here is a closer look at what is changing in Florida :
Enhanced criminal penalties based on immigration status
Florida will create a new state-level crime for immigrants who are in the country illegally and who come into the state.
To be charged with the new crime, an individual would need to be 18 years and older and law enforcement would need to prove that the person “knowingly” entered or attempted to enter Florida “after entering the United States by eluding or avoiding examination or inspection by immigration officers.”
If convicted, they would face a mandatory sentence of nine months behind bars.
Democrats and representatives with the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida said this week they were concerned that the new state crime will lead to the arrest of undocumented immigrants who are not committing crimes — and that their arrests could be a result of racial profiling.
Local law enforcement officers will face challenges in enforcing the new state crime because they do not have access to ICE databases, according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri , an influential law enforcement voice in Tallahassee .
The new measure will also enhance all misdemeanor crimes committed by a person who is in the country illegally. That would apply to misdemeanor crimes like driving without a license or having a house party in which a minor consumes drugs or alcohol at the house.
Mandatory death penalty for undocumented immigrants
Under the new laws, any immigrant who is in the country illegally and convicted of a capital felony — such as murder or the sexual abuse of a young child — must be sentenced to death, removing the jury’s discretion and challenging existing constitutional precedent.
The provision is almost certain to face legal challenges. In the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory sentences were unconstitutional because it took away the jury’s ability to consider each person and their case on an individual basis.
Fine, the senator from Melbourne , said the death penalty requirement is a priority for Trump, who recently signed an executive order that calls for federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for a “capital crime committed by an alien illegally present in this country.”
The Trump order leaves the jury’s ability to consider aggravating and mitigating factors in the trial intact. The Legislature’s proposal does not.
More cooperation with ICE at the local level
Local law enforcement agencies will be required to notify ICE if they have detained an immigrant who is in the country illegally, and provide any known information about the detainee, including their photo and fingerprints.
Florida sheriffs and chief correctional officers would also be required to provide any information regarding each inmate’s immigration status if a federal immigration agency requests the information.
The new laws will also require that all Florida sheriffs and chief correctional officers will enroll in a federal immigration program — known as 287g — no later than April 1 . In that program, correctional officers are trained to perform some of the functions of federal immigration agents at their detention facilities. That includes interrogations and investigations into a detainee’s immigration status.
Florida law already requires local law enforcement agencies to hold undocumented immigrants in custody for up to 48 hours if a federal immigration agent sends a detainer request for a specific individual. But the new laws would make it easier to hold undocumented immigrants in custody for longer periods of time.
Some sheriffs said publicly last year that they would be uncomfortable taking an active role in immigration enforcement, citing issues of trust in the communities they’re tasked with protecting. While the new laws create some exceptions for victims of a crime, Republican lawmakers and DeSantis have repeatedly said their goal is to deter all undocumented immigrants from coming into the state.
Repealing in-state tuition benefits
Undocumented students who are living in Florida will no longer be able to pay a reduced tuition rate at public universities and colleges in the state.
Democrats and several Miami Republicans wanted to keep offering in-state tuition to undocumented students who are currently enrolled in school for the next four years, but Republicans in the majority voted down the effort.
That means that starting July 1 , undocumented students will no longer have access to that benefit. Students who enrolled in school will need to be reevaluated for eligibility at that time.
DeSantis needs permission to transport migrants
The governor will no longer have the unilateral authority to transport migrants anywhere in the country under a program that he once used to fly migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard and California .
Now, DeSantis will need to get permission from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before he does anything with the program. Any transportation efforts will also need to be reimbursed by the federal government and done under ICE’s “direct control and supervision.”
DeSantis’ office declared the changes are an expansion of the program because it will allow Florida to deport immigrants if ICE requests and pays for it.
If the federal government wants the state to help with deportation, Fine said the state would have the tools to do it.
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Tampa Bay Times reporter Romy Ellenbogen contributed to this report.
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