Florida Republican Party members put House speaker Perez on defense

TALLAHASSEE — House Speaker Daniel Perez was on the defensive, fielding questions from rank-and-file members of the Republican Party of Florida in a 45-minute video call Thursday about why he is battling with the governor over immigration enforcement.

Carmen Edmonds, the chairwoman of the Republican Party of Hillsborough County, said she and her members were concerned about the “optics” of Perez and the Senate president rejecting Gov. Ron DeSantis’ special session on assisting the president with immigration enforcement only to hold their own.

“If there were things that still needed to be worked out with the governor, people are wondering why you didn’t just adjourn, go back to the drawing board, bring the White House and the governor’s house in and make this the best bill it could be on the front end?” Edmonds asked.

She added: “It looks underhanded. It looks like, unfortunately, our (Legislature) in Tallahassee is trying to pit the president against the governor. And, you know, people in Florida still love our governor. But we also love President Trump. So, I think it’s just the optics of it all.”

Perez said: “The reason that didn’t happen is because the governor didn’t want to.”

The conference, which the state party chairperson estimates was attended by roughly 200 members, represents a political flashpoint in the Republican Party of Florida, which for decades has had a reputation for being efficient, effective, on message and in lock-step with its top-down leadership.

The feud between Perez, a Miami Republican, and DeSantis over who has the best plan to assist the president with deporting immigrants living in the country illegally has already roiled the intricate ecosystem of veteran politicos and conservative media. It is now extending to the boots-on-the-ground members who are integral to winning elections and spreading conservative talking points, as both sides have been using the party to message their case to Republican constituents.

A main sticking point in the conflict is that Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton pushed a bill the Legislature passed in a matter of two days this week to transfer the power to oversee Florida’s immigration enforcement system from DeSantis to one of his top political rivals — the Republican agriculture commissioner, who is a likely gubernatorial candidate in 2026.

The governor’s chief of staff, James Uthmeier, posted on social media Thursday morning that DeSantis’ office “has not declined any effort to discuss policy” and has been “open to any legislative member that would like to sit down and talk policy.”

The speaker is adamant, though, that it is DeSantis who won’t work with Perez, not the other way around.

“The reason we are in this position is there’s been a lack of communication between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature,” Perez said. “And it’s been like that for six years.”

He reiterated what he’s told the Times/Herald as well: Two weeks ago, he got off a plane in Tallahassee and was greeted by a voicemail from DeSantis that he was planning a special session to help the Trump administration carry out a sweeping deportation program.

Perez said he called DeSantis back but the governor didn’t answer. He said he’s still not heard from the governor.

“I mean, guys, put yourself in my position for a second. As soon as I landed I got blindsided by this,” Perez said. “Completely blindsided.”

Vic Baker, a Republican state committeeman from Volusia County, asked why lawmakers were limiting Desantis’ power to enforce immigration laws in Florida.

“The chief law enforcement officer in the United States is the president,” Baker said. “Drawing from that, I’d say that the chief law enforcement officer in Florida is our governor who manages the executive branch, and that’s where it belongs.”

Baker added: “And I don’t see how the agriculture commissioner, who is operating in the interest of the farming community, doesn’t find a conflict of interest in also enforcing immigration, which the farming community obviously relies upon immigrants, in many cases, to run their farms.”

Perez said the immigration program wouldn’t be run by the “chief law enforcement officer” but rather by the “chief immigration officer that is going to administer the program with the federal government and in conjunction with law enforcement.”

“The enforcers are going to be the law enforcement officers. They’re the ones who are going to catch the bad guys and make sure that we deport the bad guys,” Perez said, noting the sheriffs were supporting the Legislature’s proposal. “That’s why we have so much money going towards the resources to make sure that law enforcement can do their job.”

Republican State Committeewoman Kathryn “Kat” Gates-Skipper from Polk County said she, too, had concerns about a potential conflict of interest for the commissioner.

“As a veteran, immigration’s important to me. As a cattlewoman, agriculture is important to me,” Gates-Skipper said. “Why would you put a department impacted by immigration in charge of immigration?”

Perez said that it was his “understanding” from working with the federal government that “of the illegal immigrants that are being caught and sent back to their country, 1% works in agriculture.”

“Look, that 1% should be gone,” Perez said. “But there’s another 99% that no one’s talking about that aren’t in agriculture.”

Duval County School Board Member April Carney said that the biggest concern she’s heard from parents and grandparents was regarding a potential deal legislative leaders may strike with Democrats to put money in the budget for students living in the country illegally who will be losing in-state college tuition under the bill.

“I want to know if there was any truth to that,” Carney said. “A lot of parents that I’ve spoken to are concerned about funding continuing for illegals and not for Florida residents.”

Perez said he will “never negotiate with the Democrats to take out the in-state tuition portion for illegal immigrants that we repealed. Never. You can take that to the bank.”

“Every Democrat in our chamber voted against this bill,” Perez said. “That’s ridiculous.”

It is not Perez who would need to strike a deal with Democrats to override the governor’s impending veto to the bill the Legislature passed late Tuesday night — it is the Senate president, who doesn’t have the necessary votes after six Republicans went against the bill, three of whom are DeSantis loyalists.

It’s unclear whether those exact deals will center on funding tuition for students in the country illegally or other Democratic priorities. That will likely be worked out during the regular legislative session starting March 4.

“I don’t believe that any illegal immigrant in the state of Florida should be getting in-state tuition, which is essentially given by the government,” Perez said. “I want to make sure that is something you all completely understand.”