Florida stands at a consequential moment in the national debate over illegal immigration.

The state has already moved decisively to protect taxpayers, reinforce the rule of law, and support federal agents. What comes next should be durable, voter-approved, and immune to the shifting moods of Washington.

A Florida-tailored constitutional amendment modeled on the core framework of California’s Proposition 187 represents the logical next step, not as nostalgia, but as evolution.

Properly adapted to Florida’s legal system and adopted through the state’s referendum process, such a measure would anchor immigration control in constitutional certainty. Simultaneously, public confidence would be bolstered, after being shaken by the Minnesota episodes and their mixed response inside the Republican Party.

The urgency is not abstract. Late last month, prominent Florida Republicans publicly criticized the Donald Trump administration’s immigration stance following the firestorm in Minnesota.

Florida state Sen. Ileana Garcia told The New York Times that anti-illegal alien measures had “gone too far.” She cited family separations, aggressive raids, and the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Garcia warned that the White House’s approach could cost Republicans the midterms, explicitly blaming Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller.

Garcia, a former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) public affairs official and co-founder of Latinas for Trump, described a culture of fear and personal concern for her own family. This channeled legacy media figures substantial wattage for their anti-GOP noise machine.

Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar echoed Garcia’s concerns in a Washington Examiner op-ed. She argued that aggressive moves against illegal immigrants were eroding Republican support among Hispanic voters. She warned that Hispanics were “leaving the GOP in large numbers” and urged DHS to focus on major public safety threats rather than broadly targeting illegal aliens.

Around the same time, Congressman Carlos Gimenez told Newsmax that high-profile raids and the Minneapolis deaths were politically damaging. He bluntly opined that Trump administration tactics were hurting Republican chances in the midterms.

These comments followed notorious events in Minneapolis that reverberate nationwide.

As everyone and his or her great-grandmother surely knows, two U.S. citizens were fatally shot last month by federal immigration officers during enforcement operations. Renée Nicole Good was killed amid an ICE raid after advancing her car into an agent. Alex Pretti, an armed anti-DHS protester, was shot while physically interfering with officers who were making an arrest.

Both deaths were captured or contested by video evidence and sparked mass protests, press scrutiny, and bipartisan rancor. These incidents intensified debate over law enforcement tactics, use of deadly force, and the politics of immigration control.

The path forward is not retreat, hesitation, or rhetorical softening. It is clarity. A Florida constitutional amendment modeled on Proposition 187 would shift the focus from theatrical federal raids to clear, lawful, state-grounded rules that protect public resources while crippling illegal immigration.

California’s Proposition 187, passed by voters in 1994 by a near-20-point margin, sought to deny illegal aliens access to most state-funded public services. It required verification and reporting of immigration status by state and local agencies.

Its provisions included barring illegal immigrants from non-emergency public benefits, denying non-emergency publicly funded healthcare, restricting access to public education, mandating cooperation with federal authorities, and imposing penalties for false documentation and noncompliant public employees.

Proposition 187 also attempted to construct a parallel state enforcement architecture that went further than many remember. The initiative required state and local police to verify immigration status during arrests for suspected violations of state or federal law. This meant reporting those individuals to federal immigration authorities, embedding immigration screening into routine policing.

Furthermore, Proposition 187 directed the California Attorney General to create and maintain a statewide system for collecting, tracking, and transmitting reports of suspected illegal aliens from schools, hospitals, and social service agencies to federal officials. It also authorized civil actions against state or local agencies that failed to enforce its provisions. Private citizens were empowered to sue government bodies for noncompliance, thereby adding a layer of citizen-driven accountability.

At the same time, Proposition 187 explicitly preserved access to emergency medical care, disaster relief, and immunizations. Clearly, its architects intended exclusion from taxpayer-funded benefits to function as a deterrent, not as a denial of lifesaving aid. This broader enforcement ecosystem, largely erased from public memory, is precisely what makes a carefully-modernized, constitutionally-grounded Florida adaptation so essential today.

Although most of Proposition 187 was enjoined and ultimately nullified through federal district court agreements by 1999, its underlying premise remains politically potent and widely supported.

Florida is positioned to do what California could not. The legal pathway is clear.

Article XI of the Florida Constitution allows amendments through legislative referral or citizen initiative. A legislative referral requires a three-fifths vote in both chambers and then approval by 60 percent of voters at a general election. A citizen initiative requires signatures equal to eight percent of the votes cast in the last presidential election statewide and in at least half of Florida’s congressional districts. This is followed by Florida Supreme Court review and the same 60-percent voter approval.

Both routes ensure broad consensus and democratic legitimacy.

Florida has already laid the groundwork. Under Governor Ron DeSantis, the state enacted Senate Bill 1718 in 2023, mandating E-Verify for employers with 25 or more employees. It criminalized human smuggling with enhanced penalties, requiring hospitals to collect immigration status data, and penalized businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

In 2025, Florida expanded these efforts through Senate Bills 2-C and 4-C, allocating more than $298 million for immigration enforcement infrastructure. In-state tuition for illegal aliens was repealed, while a State Board of Immigration Enforcement was created. All police agencies in Florida were made to fully cooperate with DHS, and some, including all statewide departments and county sheriff’s offices, were deputized to administer immigration law.

This facilitated large-scale joint operations that have resulted in thousands of arrests, with multitudes more certain to follow.

A constitutional amendment, featuring every aspect of Proposition 187 with each one tailored to Florida law and binding judicial precedent, is the logical next step. Court challenges would be inevitable. Proposition 187 faced immediate injunctions over federal preemption and equal protection claims, particularly regarding education.

Fortunately, the legal landscape has changed.

Florida, with its solidly Republican state government and largely GOP electorate, is the ideal staging ground for a clean, contemporary test case. Any resulting litigation would almost certainly reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Its 6-3 conservative majority has shown openness to state authority that complements, if not amplifies, federal law enforcement.

Florida would not be acting only for itself. Success would send a signal nationwide.

Just as California once shaped national policy debates, Florida could now lead a new chapter by demonstrating that firm immigration law enforcement can be constitutional, voter-driven, and crystalline in its clarity. The Sunshine State would become a beacon for states seeking to protect public resources, and stymie the scourge of illegal immigration, without surrendering to political chaos or moral panic.

The faded California dream does not need to remain phantasmagorical. In Florida, it can be reborn through constitutional action that reflects the will of voters, restoring confidence in immigration control. This offers a sound model for national renewal grounded in law, order, and democratic legitimacy.

America needs it now, more than ever.

Dr. Joseph Ford Cotto is the creator, host, and producer of News Sight, delivering sharp insights on the key events that shape our lives. He publishes Dr. Cotto’s Digest, sharing how business and the economy really impact us all. During the 2024 presidential race, he developed the Five-Point Forecast, which accurately predicted Donald Trump’s national victory and correctly called every swing state. Cotto holds a doctorate in business administration and is a Lean Six Sigma Certified Black Belt.