Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday scoffed at Florida’s legislative leaders who said he was “premature” to call for a special session on immigration, then outlined an aggressive agenda that includes forcing local law enforcement to cooperate in federal deportation efforts, making it a state crime to enter the U.S. illegally and denying bail to undocumented residents.

Flanked by local law enforcement officials at a news conference in Winter Haven, DeSantis promoted the special session he announced Monday for Jan. 27, one week after President Trump takes the oath of office for his second term.

“You’re saying after four years of Biden’s destructive policies it’s somehow premature to act with a new president coming in? Are you kidding me?” DeSantis said. “It is always time to do the right thing.”

Trump has made what he calls “Biden’s border crisis” a top priority of his administration and promised action the day he takes office.

“We know you don’t put the cart before the horse,” DeSantis said. “But we also know what’s going to be in those orders because we’ve been coordinating with this. This (session) is tailored to anticipate what we know will be coming down the pike.”

DeSantis called the special session Monday after meeting with Trump and other governors last week at Mar-a-Lago. Trump endorsed the governor’s action Tuesday and urged other governors to follow suit.

Given the urgency of the issue and that so many Republicans campaigned on immigration, DeSantis said he was “honestly surprised” by the critical letter from fellow Republicans Senate Presidents Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez several hours after the governor’s special session announcement.

“I thought they would want to call a special session because it is such a salient issue, because of the urgency,” he said. When they refused to take the lead and call the special session themselves, DeSantis said, he decided to step up and “put the issue front and center.”

A spokesperson for Albritton said he already outlined his concerns and “doesn’t plan to weigh in further at this time.”

Perez’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Two of DeSantis’ most loyal allies in the state Senate — Blaise Ingoglia and Jay Collins — attended the Polk County press conference with him.

“We should not wait. We should not equivocate. We need to stand with President Trump and Gov. DeSantis and stand against illegal immigration,” Ingoglia said.

Other issues on the special session agenda include condominium safety, curbing perceived ballot initiative fraud, and speeding up hurricane relief efforts.

But the governor’s remarks Wednesday made it clear that the immigration issue was his top concern as he outlined several of his proposals.

One would make it a state crime to enter the country illegally and create a means by which undocumented immigrants could self-deport.

Another would establish a state immigration officer to coordinate local and state enforcement efforts with federal immigration and customs officials — and make local law enforcement cooperation in the deportation program mandatory.

Yet another would expand the legal definition of gangs to include groups of dangerous immigrants. That would increase criminal penalties for immigrants’ crimes.

DeSantis also wants to continue the “unauthorized alien” transport program launched two years ago to remove immigrants from Florida. The program was created after the DeSantis administration sparked a national controversy in 2022 by flying about 50 migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. It allows the state to transport immigrants from state to state, even if they never set foot in Florida.

And he wants to eliminate “incentives” for undocumented immigrants to come to Florida. That means repealing in-state tuition for children who were brought to Florida illegally, strengthening voting regulations by requiring affirmation of U.S. citizenship and Florida residency, and increasing penalties for voter fraud and providing false voter registration information, he said.

He also wants to require ID verification for people who want to send money to friends and families in their home countries. “That would be a huge deterrent for people coming to the country illegally,” he said.

Finally, DeSantis said, he wants to create an automatic presumption of flight risk for any undocumented immigrant seeking bail — a move that would block bail in most such cases.

It will be up to legislative leaders, however, to decide how much, if any, of that agenda gets acted on later this month.

Albritton and Perez said Monday the Florida constitution required them to show up and convene the special session, but it was up to them, not the governor, to “decide when and what legislation we consider.”

They could also decide to take no action at all, said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University.

Albritton and Perez agreed Florida needed to be ready to help Trump — but said it was not useful to make plans until after he takes office and makes it clear what state aid the federal government wants.

But DeSantis said waiting made no sense.

“Republicans talk about how strong they are going to be on this issue. Now is the time to put up,” DeSantis said. “Don’t run on the issue and then not be willing to go in there and do what you said you’re going to do. We need to deliver the results voters expect.”

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