Although GOP legislative leaders say that a special session on the state budget won’t take place next week, they still intend to meet later this month for an unusual mid-decade congressional redistricting session that Democrats say is unconstitutional and could backfire on Republicans.

“This is illegal,” said Rep. RaShon Young, D-Orlando, on a Zoom conference call held Wednesday night. “It is against the Constitution to redraw maps in favor of a party.”

“We are very clear that this is going to happen — however they want to draw these maps with their crayons, they’re going to do it, right? They’re going to do it illegally and they know that they’re going to do it illegally. This is classic Ron DeSantis,” added Tampa Bay area Rep. Michele Rayner....

Unlike the other states that have engaged in partisan gerrymandering since President Trump called on Texas to do so last summer, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has explicitly declared that is not why he has called for the Legislature to reconvene in Tallahassee in April for for a special session to redistrict Florida’s congressional seats.

Cognizant that gerrymandering is banned in the state’s Constitution, the governor has made the case that the Legislature will “be forced to do it because the Supreme Court’s VRA [Voting Rights Act] decision is going to impact the current map. No matter what else, that is going to have to be addressed.”

But what happens if the justices opt not to weigh in on a crucial part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in the pending case Louisiana vs. Callais by the time the Legislature returns to Tallahassee on April 20 for that special session? The case tests whether Section 2 of the VRA violates the Constitution by discriminating against white voters. The section prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate based on race....

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings signed an updated agreement with U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) on Friday, although he later said he did so under “protest and extreme duress.”

It came days after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier threatened the mayor and all six county commissioners that their failure to do so would result in their removal from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Yes, we signed the damn thing because we really had to. We were put in a tough spot,” Demings said during a late afternoon press conference in Orlando. “I can’t let our entire board of county commissioners and myself be removed from office.”...

South Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Salazar introduced a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform package on Tuesday that would provide legal status for certain undocumented immigrants.

The announcement comes as the Trump administration leans further into its mass deportation efforts, with hundreds and sometimes thousands of undocumented migrants being detained on a daily basis.

“The Dignity Act of 2025,” co-sponsored with Texas Democrat Veronica Escobar — is a revised version of a bill that Salazar first introduced in 2023. It also would provide protections for Dreamers but would not allow for any federal benefits for migrants or a pathway to citizenship....

Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez from office on Thursday shortly after he was arrested on felony charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office of Statewide Prosecution charged Lopez and four other individuals in a “massive Central Florida gambling operation,” according to a press release issued by the attorney general’s office.

“Initially engaging the operation for campaign contributions and personal payments, Sheriff Lopez played a multifaceted role in expanding and protecting this illegal enterprise, using his office to shield the enterprise from law enforcement,” the release said. ...