TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — Solving the illegal immigration crisis is a priority for both President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
A special session will be held on the issue in less than one week on Jan. 27.
DeSantis has released his special session proposals on immigration, which include law enforcement compliance, criminal penalties for illegal entry, educational and voting reforms, and even appointing a state immigration enforcement officer.
In addition, there are a few bills already filed for both the upcoming special session and in the spring.
After being sworn in, the 47th president announced his plans to declare a national emergency at the southern border. And with efforts to aid the Trump administration, Governor Ron DeSantis is calling on the state legislature to help tackle this issue.
"We are not approaching the new administration in a lackadaisical fashion, we in Florida have a sense of urgency to accomplish this mission," DeSantis said.
One state lawmaker is proposing an immigration-related bill that could impact state schools and universities.
With urgency, State Senator Randy Fine (R-Brevard) refiled Senate Bill 90, which looks to repeal in-state tuition for students who are in the country illegally, for the special session.
"It turns out, when you file bills sometimes, your constituents give you even better ideas," Fine said.
After speaking with constituents, Senator Fine now looks to prohibit illegal aliens from applying to some Florida universities.
Senate Bill 244 bans any Florida college or state university with an acceptance rate below 85% from admitting illegal aliens.
State House Democrats don't seem to be on board with the call for a special session or immigration education reforms.
"This is an area where Florida's perspective doesn't always square with the national one," said State Representative Fentrice Driskell (D-Hillsborough). "It's always been a bi-partisan effort to make sure these students could have tuition; in fact, Governor DeSantis' own Lt Gov. Jeanett Nuñez is the one who led the way to have legislation to where we could have tuition for the dreamers."
However, Lt. Governor Jeanett Nuñez spoke out in support of the special session, sharing in a post on X, "It's time to take on these new proposals and repeal existing laws that incentivize illegal immigration."
Now that President Trump is officially sworn in, and the special session is one week away, we could start to see even more bills and proposals from state lawmakers on immigration.