DeSantis calls for special session to prepare Florida for Trump's immigration crackdown

Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is convening state lawmakers for a special session to impose additional duties on local officials and secure funding to facilitate President-elect Donald Trump's promised immigration crackdown -- a move that is not sitting well with state-level Republican leadership.

DeSantis announced the special session, to be held the first week of the Trump administration, during a press conference Monday in which he told lawmakers that Florida needs to be prepared for "a sea change in policies, particularly with respect to border and illegal immigration."

Trump, who is to be inaugurated as the 47th president on Jan. 20, is reportedly planning around 100 executive orders for Day One of his administration, some of which are to address immigration. Axios, which was the first to report on the executive orders, had stated the plans were previewed for Senate Republicans during a meeting last week.

Florida's Republican governor has been among President Joe Biden's staunchest critics, and has frequently railed against his immigration policies, going so far as to charter flights to send migrants to Democrat-led cities.

"State and local officials in Florida must help the Trump administration enforce our nation's immigration laws and we are going to need in order to do that effectively, we are going to need legislation to impose additional duties on local officials and provide funding for those local officials," he said in announcing the special session to be held the week of Jan. 27. The Florida Legislature is scheduled to convene in March.

"We need to act and we need to act quickly."

DeSantis said funding -- "not a lot of funding" -- will be needed for detention, relocation and transportation infrastructure as well as for local law enforcement support. He also stated that local officials "neglecting their duties" in regards to enforcing the new immigration laws will be suspended.

"There also needs to be measures to hold people accountable who are violating our anti-sanctuary policies, and then Florida needs to make sure that we don't have any lingering incentives for people to come into our state illegally," he added.

In response to the announcement, Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez, both Republicans, came out against the special session in a strong letter that called DeSantis' move as "premature."

The pair said they support Trump's stance on immigration and the southern border, but "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 effort to end illegal immigration, close our borders and protect the sovereignty of our nation."

"When we receive specific guidance that may necessitate our state's legislative action to complement President Trump's efforts, we stand ready to act at the appropriate time," they said.

The Republican leaders continued that while DeSantis may unilaterally call a special session, "the people's elected representatives, the Legislature, not the governor, will decide when and what legislation we consider."