Seats filled on new Florida organization to enforce illegal immigration laws
FLORIDA (WMBB) – All the seats on the new organization that will enforce Florida's illegal immigration laws, have now been filled. The legislature passed the sweeping immigration enforcement bill last Thursday.
Desantis signed it into law just 1-hour later. Some of the key provisions mandate local law enforcement agencies work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to identify and arrest illegal immigrants with criminal records, and arrest and detain them for federal authorities.
Imposes the death penalty on an illegal immigrant who commits murder or rapes a child.
City of Lynn Haven hosts 6th Annual Health Fair
Rescinds in-state college tuition rates for students here illegally. And creates the state board of immigration enforcement. The board met for the first time Monday, here in the Panhandle, in Niceville.
It's made up of Florida's cabinet members, Gov. Ron DeSantis, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, Attorney General James Uthmeier, and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.
They'll each serve a 2-year term. Former U.S. Attorney Larry Keefe will serve as executive director of the new state board of immigration enforcement. Then there is a state immigration enforcement council made up of eight people, either county sheriffs or police chiefs.
Senate President Ben Albritton appointed Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
House Speaker Daniel Perez appointed Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell and Duval County Sheriff T. K. Waters. The last 4-appointments are police chiefs.
Other council members include Simpson-appointed St. Cloud police chief Douglas Goerke,
Uthmeier appointed Naples police chief Ciro Dominguez, DeSantis selected Clermont police chief Charles 'Chuck' Broadway, and Patronis chose Fort Walton Beach police chief Robert Bage.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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