Republicans in the Florida legislature are pushing back against Governor Ron DeSantis’ plan to support President Trump’s mass deportation plan. Instead, they’ve proposed the “TRUMP Act,” which DeSantis says is very misleadingly named: “They thought if they came in, gutted the enforcement of doing what we need to do, and just named it the “TRUMP Act,” that somehow, they would be able to get away with that.” Gov. DeSantis joins Glenn to argue that “RINOs” are trying to give immigration enforcement power to the Commissioner of Agriculture, who will do the bidding of companies that want to use illegal immigrants for cheap farm labor: “That’s like the fox guarding the henhouse! They don’t want to enforce it. Are you kidding me?! … I don’t want to house the illegals. I want to DEPORT the illegals.”
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: The first 100 days of the Trump administration have been breathtaking. A lot like the early days of Ron DeSantis in Florida.
And what he's doing in Florida, is trying to get the state to do everything they can to make sure, that Trump's policies are going through, especially on illegals.
There is a house with these unbelievable RINOs, that in a special session, they must want to come back.
Because they said, it's not an emergency. What are you talking about?
Ron DeSantis called for a special session, because he said, the president was just put in office. I want all of the tools on the table. To help him solve this problem.
The RINOs said no, and then they started to change everything that he wanted, and then have the balls to name it the Trump Act.
Really? The Trump Act. And Ron DeSantis, governor is with us now to tell us a little bit about the Trump Act.
Welcome to the program, Governor. How are you?
RON: I'm doing good.
A week ago, we were preparing for a historic snow storm, and our state record had been four inches.
We actually hit last week, 10 inches of snow in Northwest Florida. In Milton. You saw the beaches covered in snow. So it's kind of an interesting period for Florida. Where is the global warming when you need it, right?
GLENN: Yeah. Okay. So tell me about -- because what I've seen, what -- just what's happening with Wilton Simpson is an abomination. Tell me what --
RON: Yeah.
GLENN: Tell me who you're fighting. And what you're fighting against and for.
RON: Well, you hit it on the head. They didn't want it to do anything, on illegal immigration.
And after the election, I said, this is our chance. This is the number one issue, the president ran on.
And we need to get it right. And on there's no way, President Trump can fulfill his mandate, if the state and local governments and law enforcement are not actively supporting his deportation efforts. I mean, think about it. He's coming out of the gate strong. But they've done about probably 700, 800 arrests on average a day. Which is saying, well, let's just say a thousand.
Well, extrapolate that out. 365 days a year, times four.
Biden let in 10 million illegals on his own. Now, I do think the Trump administration will ramp up.
I think they will get better numbers as times goes on.
If you just had every red state. Saying all police departments. All red departments.
Have to participate maximally in the programs that the Trump administration is offering for immigration enforcement. You would increase those numbers dramatically, and that is what we have to do.
We have to be ready to go.
We have to work hand-in-glove.
Now, what you'll have in California and be in Chicago.
They will be trying to sabotage Trump's agenda. There will be sanctuary jurisdictions. Now, we don't allow that in Florida. But I think most states who are not sanctuary. They will just say, hey, it's the federal government's responsibility.
Yeah. We won't sabotage it. We won't be in that fight.
I don't think that's adequate. This is a historic moment for this country.
We've been talking about this issue for decades. Yes. Trump is absolutely right for going after the cartels. And designating them foreign terrorist organizations.
Obviously, we need to build the wall. And fortify the border.
But you have this massive problem of interior enforcement. And so that's what we're proposing, as well as other things that were important.
Legislature didn't want to do. I called a special session against their wishes. They said it was premature that they could wait. They got blowback from their constituents.
They thought, if they came in. Butted the enforcement of doing what we need to do.
And just name it the Trump act nap somehow, they would be able to get away with that. Obama named Obamacare, the affordable care act. Obviously, it wasn't affordable.
Biden named his spending boondoggle the Inflation Reduction Act. Obviously, that didn't work out.
So they're playing this game, where if they think, if they put Trump's name on a weak bill, that somehow people think it will be good.
And it's totally inadequate.
Here's the thing, Glenn. Before I became governor, Florida was very weak on immigration.
Part of it was they thought, that the Hispanic population. I proved that wrong, because I was the strongest governor, and I had a record Hispanic vote in 2022.
So that was wrong. But then you do have this desire for cheap, illegal alien labor in some of these industries. 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.
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.
And you mentioned the commissioner of agriculture. They're actually taking away immigration enforcement authority from the governor, and putting it in the commissioner of agriculture.
GLENN: Which is --
RON: That's like the fox voting the henhouse. Are you kidding me?
GLENN: It's crazy.
RON: Even stripping some of the stuff I have now, like E-Verify. They want to put it over there.
It's a really, really bad product.
Here's the thing. I think some of them are caught up.
We don't want the governor getting the win.
We're sick of him doing all this stuff.
I don't need pride of ownership stuff.
They can take 100 percent of the credit.
I just want to get the job done.
If they're not doing what they need to do, to get rid of this.
There will be some successes, don't get me wrong.
But we won't be able to deliver on the man date that people gave us.
Just the final point I'll make. Republicans all ran, for four years in Florida. On bashing Biden's border policy.
Saying we needed to get tough.
Supporting Trump's agenda in 2024.
They all ran on that. Not one Republican ran and said, you know what, we just need to give it all to the commissioner of agriculture. You know, state and local shouldn't be -- shouldn't be required to help the federal government.
They wouldn't do any of that!
And now they're bragging about, they're going to spend money on giving beds for illegals. I don't want to host illegals, I want to deport illegals.
GLENN: It is remarkable to me!
First of all, Wilton Simpson. He wants to be governor. When you're not governor, he is going to run in the next cycle.
He's compromised. He is the guy who supported giving in-state intuition to illegal aliens.
He gave the cutout to e-Verify, so agriculture didn't to have worry about it. Refused to provide law enforcement resources during the original border crisis.
This guy is -- is not a helper when it comes to doing the things that Americans have just said, they want to be done.
Who is -- who is also -- I mean, I'm just looking up you've got the Senate president. Ben Albritton. House Speaker, Daniel Perez.
They seem to be in the same boat, as Wilton Simpson. Who needs the pressure?
RON: Well, look, I think just all the legislators. They just need to hear from their constituents. And they're getting upset they can't be somehow, they're getting threatened.
Some of their constituents are telling them, that's not right.
They need to be held accountable for their actions. And what they did, what they're doing is consistent what they told the voters they're doing. They're not going to have any problem, right?
Glenn, I've been doing this for six years.
I've never seen our base react more negatively on an issue, than what the legislature is trying to pull right now. It is like 99 to one. In terms of opposition.
So I think sunlight is the it best disinfectant. People just have to make their voice heard.
We shouldn't let this slip through our fingertips. I think some of it is some inside baseball up there.
You know, Will Simpson was the Senate president.
A lot of the stuff -- tough immigration policies we did two years ago, I wasn't able to get through when he was Senate president.
Because he did block it. And he did support things like driver's licenses for illegals. When he was in the Florida Senate.
He really exercises a lot of influence over the Florida Senate.
So the fact that he was put into that bill, I don't think that that was an accident.
I think that was definitely something that they were trying to do. And does it even pass the last test.
That no state has been more active in fighting illegal immigration, over Biden's term than me. Than Florida and me.
We've had people at the border.
Martha's vineyard and other transport. We enacted mandatory E-Verify.
We did all these things. And then you want to take all these things away, and give it to the ag commissioner, and create some new, crazy bureaucracy.
GLENN: That they don't even have the infrastructure for in the first place. They would have to be rebuilt in the ag department. Am I right about that, or wrong?
RON: Exactly. And the way the bill is written, we think it's unconstitutional.
Because it actually takes away some of the core executive power, that is vested in the governor's office, under Florida's Constitution.
So it's constitutionally suspect. It's also, as a policy matter, it is not going to work.
And here's the thing: If their proposals were consistent with what they campaigned on. What actually worked.
And they had competing.
Hey. If it works, it works.
Their proposals will not work.
Think of even this issue.
It needs to be a crime for illegals to Trojan vote. We've been trying to do this for years.
That was in my proposals.
They're not including that. So illegals can register in Florida, under their proposals. And they're not requiring to sign an affidavit, that they're a US citizen.
Which our Constitution requires. And there's no penalty. Well, guess what, Glenn.
If you let them register. By the time they vote, even if you prosecutor them after the fact, the vote counts.
The time to stop it, is when they try to register in the first place.
And yet they're not doing anything about that.
We have, in our proposals, a rebuttable resumption that illegals that get brought up on criminal charges are detained and then turned over to ICE!
They watered that down so that judges are just going to release these guys back on the streets.
So it's a lack of seriousness about what it really takes to get this issue right. And I can tell you this.
When they propose their so-called Trump act, misnamed Trump Act, Democrats in the Florida Senate were high-fiving them.
Liberal media in Florida, have been singing their praises. The ACLU of Florida tweeted, thank you for what you're doing.
I can tell you this, Glenn. When we banned sanctuary cities. Democrats were not high-fiving anyone.
GLENN: Oh, yeah. Correct.
RON: When we eliminated DEI a couple years ago. No Democrats were high-fiving anyone. When we eliminated the woke.
When we did the stop the gender insanity. When we do all these things.
That Florida became famous for. No Democrats were high-fiving. No media was singing our praises.
The ACLU was not in our corner. If this was really a tough immigration proposal.
Then why were these people on the left embracing it?
GLENN: I have to tell you, Ron. This is the one went that has stopped me from moving to Florida. I promised my wife that some day we would live on the water. And the only option for me, really is Florida. Because it's a free state and it's a great state and you're the governor.
But I worry about you, when you leave, what are these stupid Republicans going to do.
And honestly, I just -- they -- if we don't get all of these weasels out, and get the people in that actually believe in what we're trying to do.
The state is going to go back to the same wishy-washy garbage. That makes it a garbage state as it always has.
You guys have led the way. And it's the reason why you're leading the United States right now!
Because you're doing what the people are asking for.
These guys who don't get it, man. They should be on notice.
I, like you, have never seen the Republican voters, as awake as they are right now.
They know what they want. They see what's happening in Washington.
They see what's happening in Florida. And if you are a voter in Florida, you need to get on the phone!
Because your state is going to go to trash, the minute this guy leaves. If you don't have people that understand what -- and -- and believe and will execute.
What you want to happen. You need to get on the phone, right now. And call your Florida representative.
By the way, we have Sheriff Wayne Ivey on with us, Governor, in just a few minutes.
I think he will got to be telling the story about what he's actually looking for. Isn't he?
RON: Yeah. Look, people like Wayne. They want to solve the problem. So they want to participate in these federal programs. Not everyone wants to do that. Which is why we have to make it an expectation that all police departments and sheriff's departments want to do it.
Just think about. Yes. We focus on criminal aliens. And that's important. I want to get these guys before they commit crimes.
I want to make sure our schools aren't overrun illegals. I want to make sure our health care system isn't overrun.
I want to make sure that illegals aren't getting into accidents. And you have insurance. And you're out of luck.
So there's so many ways that this problem impacts our society.
And unless we get it right on enforcement right now, under Donald Trump's leadership, we're never going to solve this problem.
And the quality of life is going to increase dramatically. And look, you talked about Florida. What's going to happen. I can tell you this.
I came in. I was bold. They told me, that was a mistake. Because it was a 50/50 state. We were bold. We delivered results. There was a sharp contrast between us and the left.
And we've had more political success in Florida, than Republicans have ever had. When you water down. When you do the corporatism, when you're not standing for working people, but you're worried about things like cheap labor. When you do that, you will lose political support. That's the lifeline.
I think the reasons the Democrats were high-fiving. Is because they see the leaders -- they're giving them a lifeline to regain relevance in Florida.
They're giving them a pathway, where they can return to power, in the future.
We have beat the left. We weren't trying to high five them.
We've beat them on issue after issue. That's why they've been rendered irrelevant.
And the formula is very clear. And even look at the national election. Donald Trump was bold. And he was rewarded.
GLENN: I have got to run. But so great to talk to you. Keep up the good fight.
Governor Ron DeSantis.