Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced a special legislative session for later this month to aid President-elect Donald Trump‘s deportation efforts, but Republican leaders in the state legislature are pushing back on the call.
DeSantis ordered the Jan. 27 special session Monday, hoping lawmakers would act on supporting planned deportation efforts, along with condominium regulations, hurricane relief, and regulations for ballot initiative petitions.
Shortly after DeSantis announced the session, Republican state House Speaker Daniel Perez and Republican Senate President Ben Albritton issued a joint memo to lawmakers, calling the decision “premature” and pointing to the regular legislative session beginning on March 4.
— Daniel Perez (@Daniel_PerezFL) January 13, 2025
Trump is expected to sign various executive orders upon taking office Monday, including several pertaining to illegal immigration, but both legislative leaders argued they do not know enough about the specifics of his policies to respond in a special session.
“It is completely irresponsible to get out ahead of any announcements President Trump will make, especially when uninformed or ill-timed state action could potentially impair or impede the success of President Trump’s forthcoming efforts to end illegal immigration, close our borders, and protect the sovereignty of our nation,” says the memo.
The two leaders also criticized DeSantis for not releasing “any actual bill language or even meaningful details for legislators and our constituents to consider” and argued that the matters could wait until the regular session.
“Florida’s Constitution compels our attendance at a special session unilaterally called by the Governor. However, the power to convene a special session also resides with the presiding officers. As the people’s elected representatives, the Legislature, not the Governor, will decide when and what legislation we consider,” the memo concludes.
Despite the pushback from the GOP legislative leaders, DeSantis still issued the official proclamation calling the special session for a week after Trump’s inauguration shortly after the memo was released.
President-elect Trump was elected with a mandate to stop illegal immigration and deport illegal aliens already in our country.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 13, 2025
State and local officials in Florida will actively facilitate the Trump Administration’s policies against illegal immigration, and to do that we need to… pic.twitter.com/PHvNYvjAH6
“President-elect Trump was elected with a mandate to stop illegal immigration and deport illegal aliens already in our country. State and local officials in Florida will actively facilitate the Trump Administration’s policies against illegal immigration, and to do that we need to immediately set aside and approve the necessary funding and resources now,” DeSantis said in a post on X that displays the proclamation.
“As part of the special session I called for January 27, the week after President Trump is sworn in, I am calling on the legislature to appropriate funding for detention, relocation, transportation infrastructure, local law enforcement support, and everything else needed for Florida to carry out this mission,” DeSantis added.
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Not all GOP state lawmakers agreed with the leaders of the chambers, with Republican state-Sen. Blaise Ingoglia expressing support for DeSantis’s special session, calling the four matters presented “pressing and time sensitive.”
“The sooner we tackle these issues, the better. Florida should always lead from the front, especially on illegal immigration issues,” Ingoglia said in a post on X.