DeSantis hammers state legislature on 'Glenn Beck Program' for pushing weak anti-illegal-immigration bill using Trump's name

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) is no longer holding back his criticisms of the Republican leaders in the state legislature after they gaveled out the special session DeSantis convened in order to then gavel in their own session to offer up their own bill to address the immigration crisis.

Speaking with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on Tuesday, DeSantis said the representatives have been fighting against the special session leading up to Monday and that their actions show they are not serious about helping President Donald Trump fulfill his campaign promise.

DeSantis pointed to various state industries that have a vested interest in maintaining an illegal immigrant labor force.

"And I think that's what these guys are trying to preserve. I don't think they want to see immigration enforcement, the way you would need to, to fulfill President Trump's mandate. They made it sound like it's initially a difference of opinion on timing. But understand, what they're proposing, it's a difference of values," DeSantis told Beck.

"The values that we all ran on, that Donald Trump got elected on, that all your listeners subscribed to,
those are reflected in the proposals that I did. They are not reflected in what the Florida legislative leaders are doing," he continued.

One of the main issues, according to DeSantis, is that the legislature's bill would make the commissioner of agriculture the state's immigration officer. "That’s like the fox guarding the henhouse!" he said.

The governor further said the legislature naming its bill the "Trump Act" is a sleight of hand to trick people into thinking it's a tough anti-illegal-immigration bill.

In addition to weakening enforcement and collaboration with the federal government, the legislature's bill does not require financial companies that send money to other countries to verify senders' citizenship status. It also does not establish a state crime for entering the country and state illegally, as DeSantis initially proposed.

DeSantis bashed the state Republicans who ran on promises to address the Biden-Harris immigration crisis, only to then try to offer a watered-down bill now that they are in a position to help solve the problem.

State House Speaker Daniel Perez (R) said DeSantis' call for the special session did not meet the threshold for convening members ahead of the scheduled session in March.

"I believe special sessions should be used sparingly. It should not be stunts designed to generate headlines, and the truth is I dislike special sessions because they inhibit the very thing the legislative process should encourage: the push and pull of meaningful conversations that lead to the development of good and better ideas," Perez said. "Special sessions should be reserved for those issues that truly cannot be addressed in the normal course of the legislative process."

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