Daniel Perez: Gov. DeSantis wants ‘mini-version of ICE,’ not to work with Donald Trump

Daniel Peres is no fan of giving more hiring power to the Chair of the State University Board of Trustees.

House Speaker Daniel Perez cast an immigration enforcement proposal by Gov. Ron DeSantis as a big government scheme.

Perez held a town hall meeting with Republican Party of Florida leaders where, according to sources on the call, the Speaker characterized a bill passed by the Legislature as a far more conservative option that legislation backed by DeSantis, which the Legislature declined to hear. Perez said the Legislature’s bill, the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy (TRUMP) Act (SB 2B), requires the state to work with President Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency rather than leaving everything to the Governor.

“That’s the reason why we did this proposal,” Perez said. “He (DeSantis) is not going to work with ICE. He wants a little mini-version of ICE. He wants his own state guard, with his own bureaucrat picking up the illegal aliens and shipping them off to another portion of the world, wherever it is that they originate from. That’s not working (in) conjunction with President Trump.”

The call with party leaders came after weeks of DeSantis communicating through the state party with activists to demand lawmakers pass his agenda. The Governor has also held several press conferences around the state promising to veto the Legislature’s bill, including one this morning in Palm Beach where he labeled the bill as “grotesque” and suggested he will support Republican Primary opponents for those who support the Perez-backed policy over his own.

Perez predicted such threats won’t move any House members to the Governor’s camp on the proposal.

“It’s tough to want to work with a gentleman that when he doesn’t get his way, threatens to primary members of the Legislature,” Perez said. “That’s a tough place to be in.”

Several on the call asked Perez why he and Senate President Ben Albritton have not simply sat down with DeSantis to hammer out a bill everyone could agree upon. Perez said he would take a call from the Governor at any time, at that point even pulling up his phone and suggesting any staffers on the call contact him right then. The phone did not ring.

GOP leaders also questioned the reason the Legislature would want Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson as chief immigration officer for the state rather than putting duties in the Governor’s Office. Perez said the Governor would likely appoint an unelected bureaucrat to the role while the Agriculture Commissioner is elected by the people every four years.

A participant noted that just over two years ago, a liberal Democrat served as Agriculture Commissioner. That was a reference to Nikki Fried, now chair of the Florida Democratic Party.

But Perez said it’s just as possible that voters in two years elect a Democrat for Governor. DeSantis faces term limits and cannot run again in 2026.

“Do I think that’s going to happen? No, I don’t think we’re a purple state. I mean, I hope that doesn’t happen, and we’re going to fight like hell to make sure that doesn’t happen, but it can happen in any elected office,” Perez said. “You’re only one election away from no longer having the privilege of serving the people. That’s the way every elected official should think.”