The Florida House on Tuesday backed down from its proposal to block emergency funds from being used on illegal immigration enforcement following harsh criticism from the DeSantis administration.
This represents a massive pivot from the GOP-dominated House鈥檚 original proposal to exclusively use the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund on natural disasters, an idea blasted as 鈥渕oronic鈥� by the state Attorney General James Uthmeier, a former aide to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A Tuesday to the bill, which came the same day the fund was set to expire, would allow these emergency dollars to also be spent on manmade and technological disasters 鈥� as long as the Legislative Budget Commission is able to review every time the governor wants to extend these declared state of emergencies.
Republican House Speaker Danny Perez, who鈥檚 long feuded with DeSantis, said this would include immigration.
鈥淭he [Division] of Emergency Management will be able to use funds for illegal immigration,鈥� Perez told reporters Tuesday, biting back at 鈥渘arratives鈥� that the House doesn鈥檛 want to enforce immigration laws. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e gonna have the right resources to continue to combat illegal immigration.鈥�
Perez added that he wants to make sure natural disasters 鈥� 鈥渟omething that we can鈥檛 control the timing of鈥� 鈥� take priority for the emergency fund. But that trust will pay for immigration, too, he said.
His comments came in to the bill sponsor鈥檚 just one day earlier. Republican Rep. Griff Griffits told reporters that immigration problems 鈥渃ome and go,鈥� and any necessary funding could just be allocated through a special session.
DeSantis first declared a state of emergency for immigration in Jan. 2023. Because these declarations expire by law every 60 days, he鈥檚 renewed the call repeatedly since then.
Tuesday鈥檚 amendment to would still prevent emergency managers from using the fund to pay for aircraft, boats, or motor vehicles. This follows that FDEM spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on private jet flights and boats.
FDEM has pulled $573 million out of the trust in three years to combat illegal immigration. They鈥檝e spent $406 million of that in six months. Those costs included restaurant meals and the operation of the so-called 鈥淎lligator Alcatraz鈥� and 鈥淒eportation Depot鈥� migrant lockups.
But despite Democratic backlash, DeSantis defended the fund鈥檚 payments Tuesday, pointing out that his broad emergency powers allowed the state to rescue Floridians from Israel and Haiti and lead on immigration. Florida is the only state in the nation that requires all of its counties to partner with ICE.
鈥淚鈥檇 be very surprised if [the Legislature] were going to do anything that was going to lead to the release of a really significant number of criminal aliens,鈥� DeSantis said. 鈥淲hat are you going to say to somebody if they end up getting victimized by one of these folks?鈥�
This came after Uthmeier called the House鈥檚 plan 鈥渕oronic鈥� while the governor鈥檚 staff suggested the bill鈥檚 architects aren鈥檛 real Republicans.
But the fund is expiring鈥�
None of this will matter 鈥� at least not immediately.
The fund expires Tuesday night because lawmakers couldn鈥檛 agree on whether it should have guardrails. The Senate last week voted to keep the measure as is, while the House wanted limits on spending and has pushed its bill in front of only one committee.
It lapsed at midnight with roughly $200 million left in its coffers. That money will flow back into general revenue, leaving DeSantis without access to the quick pot of cash he鈥檚 had since 2022 to pay for disaster relief and, more recently, immigration.
The Legislature created the fund in 2022 to allow the governor to quickly pay for declared emergencies without legislative approval.
The trust was set to expire exactly four years after its creation: Feb. 17, 2026. The Senate would have extended the fund until Dec. 2027, while the House proposes keeping it through July 2030.
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