DeSantis Ramps Up Feud with Legislature, Pledging to Veto Bill Targeting Undocumented Immigrants

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday pledged to veto an immigration bill passed during a special legislative session Tuesday, triggering a potential showdown with Republican House and Senate leaders in a tug-of-war over efforts to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda.

DeSantis lambasted the measure during appearances Wednesday in Titusville and Fort Myers. The bill, backed by House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, includes making Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson the state’s immigration czar, putting Simpson’s department in charge of immigration enforcement, and steering nearly $500 million to state and local law-enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal immigration. The measure (SB 2-B) focuses, in part, on undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes.




The governor’s latest criticism ramped up what has become a brutal — and public — feud between the Republican legislative leaders and DeSantis, who repeatedly called the bill “weak” and “pathetic” and lobbed personal attacks at his foes.

“What you’ve seen, there’s a difference between having a Republican majority and a conservative majority. We had a conservative majority the previous two years, and I think what you’re seeing, it’s driven by leadership. They’re moving the Republicans in the Legislature left,” DeSantis said during the appearance in Fort Myers.

But Senate bill sponsor Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican who is a close Trump ally, said he spoke directly with the president and worked with the Trump administration to craft legislation that would help carry out the president’s immigration crackdown.

“This is the strongest bill that’s ever been passed anywhere in the country. This gives the president all the tools he needs in support of his executive orders and what he’s trying to do,” Gruters told The News Service of Florida on Wednesday. “I’ve worked with the administration on technical guidance on making sure that we have everything in there that they need for them to accomplish their job.”

DeSantis’ criticism Wednesday continued days of intraparty sniping over how best to address the illegal immigration issue.




“This bill will work. This bill will be the game-changer. Of course, you are going to have your handful of politicians, a small group of activists and a lot of paid bots on social media trying to gaslight you,” Perez said in a shot at DeSantis before the House passed the bill in an 82-30 vote Tuesday night. The Senate earlier voted 21-16 to approve the bill.

The plan includes boosting criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants, ending in-state tuition rates for undocumented-immigrant students and creating a state “chief immigration officer” within the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The bill also would lead to spending about $500 million, with much of the money going to local law-enforcement agencies, and would require the death penalty for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes such as first-degree murder.

Republicans on both sides of the dispute tried to tie themselves to Trump — with the final version of the bill titled the “Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy (TRUMP) Act,” a moniker that drew DeSantis’ jibes the following day.

“They’re trying to leverage Donald Trump’s popularity and his reputation for being strong on immigration … and they’re trying to have that paper over the weak sauce that they’re trying to jam down your throats here in Florida. I think that’s offensive,” the governor said during the event Wednesday in Fort Myers.

Gruters praised DeSantis’ previous efforts to combat illegal immigration — a cornerstone of GOP politics — but called this week’s public dispute “counterproductive to the overall goal” of supporting Trump.

“The president wants the most help he could possibly get. He wants the most conservative bill he can get,” Gruters said. “To call our bill weak, I think it unfortunately backs him (DeSantis) into a corner.”

The heated rhetoric spilled out onto the House floor Tuesday, as Perez poked DeSantis for pressuring lawmakers to vote against the proposal.

“Threatening others to get your way isn’t leadership. It’s immaturity. The people of our state deserve better,” Perez said. “We know that truth matters. Simply saying something is terrible over and over doesn’t actually make it true.”




DeSantis on Wednesday continued to take aim at the bill’s failure to require identity verification for wire transfers, a proposal he said would help eliminate “incentives” for illegal immigration by preventing undocumented workers from sending money to their home countries.

“Clearly, to have designed a bill like that, you don’t believe in what we believe in, in terms of strong borders, a big deportation program, rule of law, protecting families and protecting communities,” DeSantis said during his appearance in Titusville.

The governor also repeatedly attacked the plan to give Simpson — a potential 2026 gubernatorial candidate who has close ties to Trump and has been at odds with DeSantis — oversight of immigration enforcement. DeSantis repeatedly likened the provision to putting “the fox in the henhouse,” alluding to immigrants working in the agriculture industry..

In a social-media post Tuesday, Simpson said he was aligned with Trump and pointed to DeSantis’ failed bid for the White House last year.

“Florida’s conservative legislature will decide who is best to support President Trump and his team. I’m not the one who opposed and ran against President Trump. @GovRonDeSantis’s routine attacks on farmers don’t sit well here in Florida –- and apparently not with folks across the country either,” Simpson posted on X.




The Legislature had not formally sent the bill to DeSantis as of mid-afternoon Wednesday. But when asked earlier in the day if he intended to veto the measure, the governor answered affirmatively. A veto potentially could lead to calling another special session on the immigration issue.

“What they did last night is not going to pass muster. It is not what they told you they would do, when they ran for office. It is not consistent with what all of these Republicans ran on, and all of these Republicans promised the people that put them into office,” he said at the Titusville event.

Gruters, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, acknowledged that the “power struggle” between the Republican leaders has resulted in a stalemate but remained hopeful.

“Listen, we got to get past this,” Gruters, who has Trump’s backing in the 2026 race for state chief financial officer, said. “We need to de-escalate this because, at the end of the day, this is a good bill. … I think we’ve got to tone down everything. I’m optimistic that the governor will reconsider, considering the fact that this is one of the strongest bills that’s ever been passed in the entire country.”

–Dara Kam, News Service of Florida