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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during an event in Ocala on April 17, 2025. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette file photo]

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Posted April 1, 2026 | By The News Service of Florida

Immigration emergency extended by DeSantis

Florida’s state of emergency due to illegal immigration remains in effect. Gov. Ron DeSantis last week extended the executive order declaring the emergency he first issued in January 2023.

The declaration has enabled him to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in three years on immigration enforcement efforts – normally the purview of the federal government.

Under state law, a state of emergency issued by a governor only lasts for 60 days and must be extended to stay in effect. 

In 2022 the Legislature set up an emergency trust fund to pay for declared emergencies, but Democrats were angered when DeSantis used the fund to pay for “emergencies” that weren’t the result of a natural disaster, such as immigration enforcement.

The fund expired in February and lawmakers passed a bill this year to resurrect it and extend it until July 1, 2028, but the measure (SB 7040) hasn’t been sent to DeSantis’ desk yet.

Money from the fund has been used to pay for Alligator Alcatraz, the detention center in south Florida, and other detention centers. DeSantis has said the federal government will reimburse the state for $608 million but the state hasn’t received the funds.  

‘I was not involved’ – DeSantis on GOP special election loss

Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t back Polk City Republican Josie Tomkow in the Senate District 14 special election she narrowly lost last week because she often didn’t support his agenda, he told reporters Tuesday.

“I was not involved at all in that race,” DeSantis said during a bill signing event in Tampa. “When I get behind a candidate, I’m telling voters that this is somebody that shares my values and shares our goals for the state of Florida. You have a candidate that does not do that I am not going to be supporting them and that’s what happened in that race.”

Tomkow was a former House member and part of the leadership team of House Speaker Daniel Perez, with whom DeSantis has clashed on several issues in the last 13 months.

Notably, DeSantis has castigated House Republicans for initially rejecting his push for strict immigration enforcement measures at the state level, then overriding a handful of line-item vetoes (the Senate only went along with one of them) in 2025. Tomkow voted with House leadership in both cases.

“We as Republicans have shown how you win and win big and it’s substance-driven, it’s leadership-driven it’s results-driven. When you steer away from that and you play some of the games you’re not going to have as good of results, that’s just the reality,” DeSantis said.

FHP highlights spring break arrests

Ongoing “spring break” law enforcement efforts in Panama City assisted by the Florida Highway Patrol resulted in nearly 2,000 moving citations, seven driving under the influence arrests and more than 1,300 warnings in March, according to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

The FHP also helped local law enforcement with spring break crowds in Miami Beach, where four DUI arrests, 150 moving citations and more than 200 warnings were issued in March.

There were 20 troopers deployed to Miami Beach and 40 to Panama City Beach.

The release noted that spring break enforcement remains active in Panama City Beach.

In past years, state troopers have been deployed to communities requesting assistance to maintain order during the spring break period.

A release from the FHP noted that citations issued for DUI and open-container violations are highest during March.