Florida legislators have passed a sweeping immigration bill following weeks of intense debate between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s Republican leadership.
The bill closely resembles the “Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy” (T.R.U.M.P.) Act, which failed to pass in late January 2025.
Lawmakers describe the legislation as one of the strongest measures Florida has enacted regarding illegal immigration.
The bill states that it will “prohibit the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles from issuing a driver’s license or identification card to unauthorized aliens and undocumented immigrants; require a state attorney to seek to have the court sentence certain persons as dangerous unauthorized alien offenders; and create the State Board of Immigration Enforcement within the Department of Law Enforcement.”
Unlike the T.R.U.M.P. Act this bill eliminates in-state tuition for thousands of legal-status college students in Florida and makes it a state crime to enter the state without proper legal status.
Natalia Vargas Cotto, vice president of FAMU Dream Defenders, an organization that empowers Black, Brown, and working-class people to fight for a future free from racial injustice, spoke out on the matter.
“It’s very disheartening to see what’s happening. HBCUs enrolls many international students, and our funding is different from PWIs. Now, they are going to be priced out of an education,” Cotto said.
She also stated, “They’re handling this issue poorly and are putting profits over people.”
Some political analysts suggest former President Donald Trump played a role in the bill’s rapid passage. NBC News reported, “Trump was actively engaged, talking to both DeSantis and legislative allies two weeks ago during the first round of negotiations, but he did not directly get involved as a final immigration deal was hashed out, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.”
Opponents of the bill, such as Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, expressed frustration following the hearing shortly after its passage.
“They will drop out,” Smith said to NBC News. “You have priced them out of higher education.”
It is estimated that approximately 6,000 Florida Dreamers in higher education could be affected by this bill, potentially forcing them to drop out due to the rising cost of state tuition.
“We are ahead of the curve on ending the illegal immigration crisis. We didn’t just sit [on] our hands. We got to work, we hashed it out, and we’ve got a great product going forward,” the governor stated in a Politico article.
With the bill now signed by DeSantis’ desk for final approval, both legal challenges and public backlash are expected. The long-term impact on Florida’s immigrant population remains uncertain, but the legislation marks a significant shift in the state’s approach to immigration policy.