TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – Florida Democrats are pushing legislation to strip the governor’s power to keep the state’s immigration emergency in place indefinitely.
The proposed bills would end Governor Ron DeSantis’s current immigration emergency order, which was issued nearly three years ago and has been extended for the 19th time. Democrats call the Biden-era emergency order outdated.
The emergency order enabled the state to pay for migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard and California. The order also covers Alligator Alcatraz operations.
The Democratic bills would limit future emergency order extensions to only one year unless a supermajority of the legislature agrees.
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“We have a governor who is in his last term, and I hope we have a legislature that understands that it is our responsibility to hold him accountable, especially as he’s using our taxpayer money so freely,” said Sen. Lori Berman, the Democratic minority leader.
When asked about the proposals, the governor’s office pointed to a social media post from the governor’s communication director saying that the emergency order would continue until “every illegal alien is sent back.”
Another bill would require the Florida Immigration Board to create a database of all people being detained by the state.
With a GOP supermajority, Democrats are working to gain Republican support for the legislation.
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