Trump's presence looms as Florida GOP passes immigration deal after weeks of infighting

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Republicans on Thursday passed legislation they called the “strongest” immigration enforcement bill in any state in the country, after a fight that amplified political tensions within the party as they aimed to help President Donald Trump.

Over the past two weeks, Republican leaders in the state have feuded with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the direction of immigration reform in the state, with the fighting spilling over at times into nasty, personal territory on social media, with DeSantis supporters on one side and GOP legislative leadership mostly on the receiving end.

All that took a backseat Thursday when DeSantis signed the legislation while flanked by state House Speaker Daniel Perez and state Senate President Ben Albritton.

“Today the Florida Legislature has passed the strongest legislation to combat illegal immigration of any state in the entire country,” DeSantis said moments before signing the bill.

DeSantis had pledged to veto legislation originally passed last month by lawmakers that would have stripped him of much of his immigration authority.

Trump was actively engaged, talking to both DeSantis and legislative allies two weeks ago during the first round of negotiations, but did not directly get involved as a final immigration deal was hashed out, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

His presence, though, could be felt throughout the day in the Florida state Capitol.

“It is about maximum coordination and collaboration with President Trump,” said state Sen. Joe Gruters, one of Florida’s biggest Trump allies and the recently-elected treasurer of the Republican National Committee.

It was a consistent theme throughout the day, as Republican lawmakers in the state acknowledged that immigration is a federal-focused policy — but they wanted to align Florida laws with changes Trump made to place Florida in a position to help the administration. Florida has an estimated undocumented immigrant population of over 1 million, among the most of any state in the country.

Even Democrats who opposed the bill noted Trump’s influence over the process. And state Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo voted no but said he agreed with most of the bill, which boosts funding for local law enforcement to amp up immigration enforcement and increases penalties for undocumented citizens who commit crimes in the state. Throughout the process, the state’s top Senate Democrat has positioned himself with Republicans on many issues, as he eyes a 2026 run for governor in a state Trump just carried by 13 points.

He noted the bill does not mention “deportations” one time.

Pizzo voted against the bill because of a provision that would strip in-state tuition waivers for so-called “Dreamers” —  those who were brought to the U.S. as young children by their parents. Florida Republicans passed a law in 2014, which was signed by then-Republican Gov. Rick Scott that would offer in-state tuition rates to those students, but since then, the mood of the Republican Party has shifted on immigration, and the waivers have been a top DeSantis target.

It is estimated that the removal of the waivers would impact just over 6,000 students in Florida’s higher education system, many of whom may leave school due to increased tuition costs.

“They will drop out,” said Democratic state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith. “You have priced them out of higher education.”

Proposals passed on Thursday and signed by DeSantis also create a mandatory death penalty sentence for undocumented immigrants who commit murder, a proposal that received pushback from Democrats and a handful of Republicans who are opposed to capital punishment. Much of the criticism was centered on the idea that the measure is unconstitutional and will almost certainly face costly legal challenges.

“I think the reason this is fair is 100 percent of cases when an illegal immigration commits a crime, if they followed the law in the first place and not been here, the crime would not have been committed,” said Florida state Sen. Randy Fine, a chief architect of the plan who is on a path to joining Congress this spring, as he runs for the seat vacated by Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz.

Fine acknowledged he believes the provision will be challenged in court, but he said the courts could very well rule in Florida’s favor.

The underlying bills would also create harsher penalties for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes; require the maximum penalty for undocumented immigrants who belong to gangs who commit crimes; create a new felony charge for any undocumented immigrant in the state who votes; require greater cooperation on immigration between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities; and increase funding for immigration efforts in the state.

Democrats who opposed the bill are vastly outnumbered in the state, but they made a series of arguments against the bills, including the fact that immigration is a federal issue and the state should not be footing the bill.

“$300 million is going to be appropriated [in the bill] for this, on top of all the money you are paying the federal government,” said Florida Democratic Sen. Tina Polsky.

But the pressure among Republicans to pass legislation to help Trump’s mass deportation plans won out

“We have taken incredible steps over the past 10 days to be with President Trump,” Albritton said during the bill signing ceremony.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com