TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — For the second time this legislative session, the Senate Thursday was debating legislation outlawing so-called sanctuary city policies in Florida.
The updated Senate measure would force local law enforcement agencies to fully comply with federal immigration authorities, and to punish officials who fail to do so.
Under the Senate plan, local law enforcement agencies would be forced to share information with federal immigration authorities when they detain undocumented immigrants.
The immigrants would not need to be convicted of a crime, but would have to be the custody of law enforcement officials.
In an attempt to reconcile differences with the Florida House of Representatives, one change from the bill originally passed by the Senate last week removes an exclusion for employees of the Florida Department of Children and Families. House bill sponsor Cord Byrd says the DCF exemption was a non-starter in his chamber.
“At every political level in the state of Florida, we are not going to have a sanctuary policy," said Byrd. "We are going to enforce the rule of law. We are going to cooperate with federal law enforcement in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
With pressure coming from Governor Ron DeSantis, who promised supporters he would ban so-called sanctuary cities, Republican leaders in both chambers are scrambling to pass a plan before the session ends this week.
The immigration issue has spurred one of the biggest fights of the 60-day session, and tensions have escalated as the House and Senate try to agree on a bill.
The legislative session is expected to end Saturday, when lawmakers likely will only deal with the state budget and budget-related bills, which would mean the sanctuary city issue would need to be resolved Friday.
