Florida spent 2025 leading the nation on immigration enforcement while Democrats opened the floodgates.
Governor Ron DeSantis and the Republican Legislature passed multiple bills cracking down on illegal aliens.
And now Florida's Chief Financial Officer just hit illegal alien employers with a nasty surprise.
Florida CFO unveils aggressive immigration enforcement package
Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia held a news conference Wednesday in St. Augustine to announce a sweeping legislative package targeting illegal immigration.¹
The proposals aim to close what Ingoglia called "loopholes" that allow undocumented migrants to access workers' compensation, obtain driver's licenses, and open bank accounts.
"It's about time we put our foot down and continue to put our foot down," Ingoglia said.¹ "A lot of times we're oblivious and we were ignorant as to the havoc illegal immigrants were causing in our communities."
The centerpiece of Ingoglia's plan targets the commercial trucking industry with an English-only mandate.
The state would mandate English as the sole language for every step of obtaining a Commercial Driver's License.²
That's a direct response to the August 12 crash on the Florida Turnpike near Fort Pierce that killed three people.
Florida Highway Patrol officials say driver Harjinder Singh, an illegal alien who entered through Mexico in 2018, made an unauthorized U-turn in his semi-truck and collided with a minivan.¹
Singh survived and faces three counts of vehicular homicide.
But here's what should terrify every company that's been cutting corners by hiring illegal aliens.
Employers about to get slammed with massive liability
Under Ingoglia's plan, illegal aliens would lose their status as workers eligible for compensation coverage.²
Employers who hire illegals would face direct financial responsibility for workplace injuries with no insurance safety net.
No insurance company coverage. No Workers' Comp protection. Just straight liability hitting the bottom line.
"If the employer is on the hook, this is something else for them to think about," said Florida Senator Jonathan Martin, who chairs the Criminal Justice Committee.¹
https://twitter.com/GovGoneWild/status/1996352986147377416?s=20
Martin knows exactly what he's talking about as a former prosecutor in Southwest Florida.
To file a workers' comp claim, employers would have to verify employee status through E-Verify.²
Right now, illegal aliens in Florida are covered by workers' comp like any other employee.
The proposed law flips that completely and makes hiring illegals a financial disaster waiting to happen.
Ingoglia's package goes even further by blocking illegal aliens from opening bank accounts at state-chartered financial institutions or obtaining cashier's checks.²
They would also be barred from receiving any license issued by the Department of Financial Services.
And if an illegal alien gets in a car accident in Florida, their insurance company would be forced to accept fault.²
Republican State Representative Kiyan Michael from Jacksonville spoke at Wednesday's news conference about why this matters so much to her personally.
Her son Brandon was killed in 2007 by an undocumented immigrant driver who had been deported twice before and was driving without a license.¹
"This is not a border issue. This is an every-town issue," Michael said.¹ "It's a nightmare. What makes this so horrific is this was 100% preventable. It has to stop."
The driver who killed Brandon eventually got two years in prison, paid restitution, and was deported again.
Michael is fully supporting Ingoglia's proposals because she's lived through the consequences of lax enforcement.
St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick praised the initiative and revealed his department has already transferred over 550 individuals to ICE for deportation this year.²
"The far-reaching impacts of illegal immigration have been felt by every community," Hardwick said.² "We must continue to take steps to protect the citizens of our state."
Florida already passed major immigration enforcement laws earlier in 2025 that allocated more than $298 million for enforcement.
The state created a Board of Immigration Enforcement, expanded 287(g) authority for local law enforcement, and made it a crime for adults to knowingly enter Florida illegally.
Undocumented immigrants also lost eligibility for in-state tuition at public colleges and universities, and any illegal alien convicted of a capital felony now faces the death penalty.
Ingoglia's new package builds on that foundation by attacking the economic incentives that bring illegal aliens to Florida in the first place.
If employers know they're facing unlimited liability for workplace injuries instead of fixed insurance costs, the calculation changes completely.
And if commercial drivers can't get licensed without English proficiency, sanctuary states like California and Washington won't be able to hand out CDLs to people who can't read road signs.
Ingoglia indicated he's working closely with Governor DeSantis and the Florida Legislature to pass these proposals when the 2026 session begins January 13.
Democrats will scream that this is cruel and targets vulnerable workers.
But three people are dead because California and Washington gave a commercial driver's license to an illegal alien who couldn't speak English or identify basic traffic symbols.
That's the real cruelty – pretending there are no consequences to open borders and looking the other way while American citizens pay the price.
Florida's saying enough is enough, and other states better be paying attention.
¹ Drew Dixon, "Blaise Ingoglia offers new proposals to stem access to privileges for undocumented migrants," Florida Politics, December 3, 2025.
² Jack Kaminsky, "Florida CFO Ingoglia Unveils Immigration Package: 'English-Only' CDLs And Worker Comp Bans," Tampa Free Press, December 3, 2025.
