Welcome to Special Session 2025A/B! 



This week, the legislature convened for not one but two special sessions to consider immigration reform in the wake of President Trump’s inauguration. Legislators were required to attend Special Session 2025A as called by Governor DeSantis—however, Speaker Perez and President Albritton quickly gaveled in and out of 2025A, before initiating their own Special Session, 2025B. None of the Governor’s bills were considered.  

The third round of interim committee meetings was cancelled, to make time for a number of select committees on immigration to consider the special legislation.  

The remaining interim committee schedule is as follows: 

• February 3-7, 2025 
• February 10-14, 2025 
• February 17-21, 2025 

Regular session will begin on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. 

On Monday, January 27th, the Florida Legislature convened at the state capitol for a Special Session 2025A called by the Governor relating to immigration issues. However, both chambers promptly adjourned, gaveling in and out of special session 2025A without consideration of any bills. Before doing so, the Legislature did vote to override the Governor's veto of the Legislature's support services budget. This action was made possible through a two-thirds majority override by both chambers.  

The presiding officers then initiated a joint Special Session, 2025B. This marked the dismissal of the original 20 bills scheduled for deliberation, which were replaced with a pair of bills focusing on immigration reform: HB 1B, sponsored by Rep. McClure, and its Senate companion, SB 2B, sponsored by Sen. Gruters.   

During Special Session 2025B, Speaker Perez established three Select Committees on Illegal Immigration to deliberate further on HB 1B, which has been named the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy (TRUMP) Act. On Tuesday, January 28th, in a joint statement presiding officers, issued a memorandum explaining additional improvements intended to be made to the chambers’ immigration proposals before final passage.  The improvements were part of a strike-all amendment to SB 2B which was approved and passed the full Senate on a 21-16 after hours of debate.  The House also debated the improvements as part of its consideration of HB 1B. After receiving the Sente bill, the House took up SB 2B and passed it passed 82-30. The bill now goes to the Governor for his consideration as to approval or veto. 

Below is a breakdown of key provisions from the TRUMP Act that will directly impact counties. 

The bill names the Commissioner of Agriculture as the state’s Chief Immigration Officer (CIMO) and establishes the Office of State Immigration Enforcement (OSIE) within the Division of Law Enforcement under the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Historically, the Commissioner of Agriculture has served as the immigration officer, among other functions.   

As Chief Immigration Officer, the Commissioner of Agriculture will serve as the central point of coordination between the federal government, state entities, local governmental entities, and law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration law. The CIMO also coordinates and provides assistance to law enforcement agencies and local governments to ensure compliance with Florida's Federal Immigration Enforcement statute, administers the Local Law Enforcement Immigration Grant Program, conducts audits to ensure compliance and enforcement of E-Verify, and provides the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House legislative recommendations to improve assistance and coordination with the Federal Government in the enforcement of federal immigration law. Additionally, the Chief Immigration Officer is responsible for reporting on the number of vacant detention beds available in correctional facilities and county jails that can be sublet to ICE.  

The bill expands the current requirement (passed in SB 1808, 2022) that a sheriff operating a county detention facility must enter into a written agreement with ICE to participate in the immigration program established under s. 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. s. 1357, to include county jails not operated by a sheriff. The bill now applies to the 10 counties whose jails are not run by the Sheriff. Among the options available to sheriffs and chief correctional officers are the Warrant Service Officer Program and the Jail Enforcement Model. Both are already operational in certain Florida counties. A sheriff or chief correctional officer operating a county detention facility will select the manner that provides the most effective model for enforcing federal immigration laws in that jurisdiction.

The bill creates the Local Law Enforcement Immigration Grant Program within the OSIE to award grants to local law enforcement agencies, including chief correctional officers who operate a county detention facility. The OSIE must annually award any funds specifically appropriated for the grant program to reimburse expenses, including, but not limited to, subletting detention beds to ICE, equipment, travel, lodging, and training programs to include certified apprenticeship programs, related to supporting the enforcement of federal immigration laws. The grant funds are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, but the OSIE must prescribe the procedure and application for the program.  

The bill creates the State Immigration Enforcement Council. At a minimum, the Council is comprised of the Executive Director of FDLE and seven sheriffs and four police chiefs appointed by the Chief Immigration Officer. A sheriff will chair the Council. The Council will advise the Chief Immigration Officer on the efforts of local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration law. The Council will also recommend strategies to increase the number of available detention beds, facilitate the training of local law enforcement officers in the enforcement of federal immigration law, and better coordinate with the Trump Administration.   

For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the bill appropriates $515,030,239 from the General Revenue Fund to implement its requirements. This includes $20,562,630 in recurring funds and $494,467,609 in nonrecurring funds, along with the allocation of 149 full-time equivalent positions to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Of these positions, 142 are dedicated to the OSIE and 7 to administrative support roles. These allocations reflect the substantial investment required to launch and maintain the enforcement framework outlined in the legislation.  

For additional special session resources, please see below: 

• House Select Committee on Illegal Immigration A 
• House Select Committee on Illegal Immigration B 
• House Select Committee on Illegal Immigration C 
• Senate Special Session B 
• House Special Session B  
• Amendment to Proclamation- Special Session 2025B 
• joint memorandum on bill improvements  
• SB 2B - Enrolled version 

On Monday, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo to all federal agencies directing them to indefinitely pause all grant, loan, and other financial assistance programs, unless otherwise specified. OMB later supplemented this with additional guidance regarding the applicability to specific programs. Specifically, mandatory spending programs and those that provide direct payments to the American people are exempt from the pause. This includes Medicare/Medicaid, SNAP, Social Security, and certain funding for farmers and small businesses. Agencies are directed to review their existing financial assistance programs for their compliance with President Trump’s recent executive orders by February 10.  

NOTE: As of Tuesday afternoon, a federal judge has temporarily blocked this action by OMB.