TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s years-long immigration battle is now doubling as a fight over executive authority. That’s after Gov. Ron DeSantis again renewed his 2023 immigration state of emergency, its 18th extension since the order was first issued nearly three years ago.
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Democratic leaders say the repeated renewals have opened the door to sweeping powers with limited oversight. They argue the administration has sidestepped more than two dozen state laws, approved no-bid contracts, and funded projects like the Everglades detention site known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“What started in January 2023 has morphed into an unchecked abuse of executive powers and an excuse for DeSantis to suspend laws and rules that he does not want to follow,” said Senate Minority Leader Lori Berman in a press conference.
Sen. Tina Polsky (D-Boca Raton) criticized the prolonged use of emergency authority, saying it amounted to “A 1000-day long state of emergency, even though Biden is no longer president and border crossings have hit historic lows.”
Democrats on Wednesday proposed a package of bills to rein in the governor’s authority. Their measures would immediately end the current immigration emergency, cap any future emergency declarations at one year without super-majority support from lawmakers, and require a public detainee database.
“We saw alligator Alcatraz, which was an abomination, and to me, the definition of cruelty,” said House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell. “So we need this check. We need this balance restored to our state government.”
The governor’s office has pushed back, saying the emergency will remain in place. DeSantis Communications Director Alex Lanfranconi wrote on social media that “It will continue to be an emergency until every illegal alien is sent back.”
DeSantis has framed the issue as a core priority since launching the original order in January 2023, telling Floridians during his 2023 State of the State address: “We believe that borders matter, and we have fought against illegal immigration in the state of Florida.”
Republican leadership has not indicated interest in taking up the Democratic proposals. But former House Speaker Paul Renner, now a GOP candidate for governor, said lawmakers should keep an eye on the balance of power.
“I think we need to look at the statute holistically,” Renner said. “I think there's some areas that— if it's a Democrat governor, they may say, ‘Well, we have a climate emergency, or we have a gun crisis emergency. And so I'm going to do things that the legislative branch would say, whoa, whoa, whoa.‘ I just think that that separation of powers needs to be always in play.”
The bills now await committee assignments when the Legislature returns next month, the first test of whether Republican chairs will give them a hearing.
