Left: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducting a raid (Fox News/YouTube). Right: Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (Office of Attorney General).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit delivered a sharp rebuke on Friday to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier over the state’s new immigration enforcement law — scolding him for making “a veiled threat” to defy a judge’s order blocking local immigrant arrests, while ruling to leave the order in place.
“Whether he is right or wrong about his control over other law-enforcement officials, the Attorney General has not made a ‘strong showing’ on this issue,” wrote Judges Embry Kidd, Kevin Newsom and Jill Pryor in a 16-page ruling. The appeals court denied a request for a stay made by Uthmeier and his office in a May 7 motion, which claimed the state’s new immigration enforcement law (SB 4-C) was being followed “to aid the United States in curbing illegal immigration within the state’s borders.”
Uthmeier’s motion claimed Florida’s new law “tracks federal law to a tee” and “retains federal-law defenses,” per the filing.
It says “nothing of who should be admitted or removed from the country,” according to Uthmeier’s office.
The 11th Circuit asked what the reason would be for pursuing local charges over federal, writing that Uthmeier failed to explain this.
“The Attorney General … says that vindicating ‘the State’s power to stem the tsunami of effects from illegal immigration is critical,”” the court noted. “But even assuming that ‘effects from illegal immigration’ is an irreparable harm, we are not sure how this particular law could be a decisive part of mitigating that harm. Federal officials of course already enforce immigration law — and many Florida law-enforcement agencies have entered into agreements with the Department of Homeland Security that allow local police to enforce federal immigration law.”
Back in April, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a 14-day stay that blocked the law in question — signed into effect by Gov. Ron DeSantis in February — which gives state law enforcement the power to arrest and prosecute undocumented immigrants. It is a first-degree misdemeanor now for a person to enter Florida as an “unauthorized alien” under the law.
Williams, a Barack Obama appointee, ordered that the legislation not be enforced, arguing that it was the federal government’s responsibility to apprehend and litigate migrants, not individual states.
Uthmeier directed authorities in the Sunshine State to stop immigration arrests from being carried out in response, but he reworded his directive just days later in an April 23 letter to Florida law enforcement agencies, saying he actually “cannot prevent” the arrests from happening, according to the Miami Herald.
Williams extended her restraining order on April 18 and then issued a preliminary injunction on April 29, noting how the law was “likely” unconstitutional. Immigration advocates accused Uthmeier of committing “quintessential contempt of court” by defying her rulings, and she ordered Uthmeier to explain why he should not be held in contempt.
The AG’s legal team sent a response on May 12, the last day of Williams’ deadline, saying he has “consistently abided by the court’s order to cease enforcing” the law.
“Nowhere does the TRO (expressly or impliedly) require the attorney general to refrain from sharing his views about the order with law enforcement,” Uthmeier’s lawyers claimed.
The 11th Circuit called out Uthmeier for his resistance on Friday, saying “the equities seem to cut against the Attorney General — and in any event do not cut in his favor — given his seemingly defiant posture vis-à-vis the district court.” The judges also chided him for condemning what he calls a “universal” injunction, in reference to Williams’ order, noting how he “does not meaningfully contest the propriety of the class certification” in the stay motion.
The court said that even if the AG is correct in claiming that Florida’s law-enforcement officers are totally separate entities over which he has no meaningful control, it still doubts that Uthmeier has Article III standing to appeal the portion of the district court’s order enjoining other state law-enforcement officials, as he alleges.
“This ruling is not just a legal victory — it’s a resounding rejection of cruelty masquerading as policy,” said Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, in a statement Friday. The ACLU is part of a challenge brought on behalf of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida and several “impacted individuals,” according to the groups.
“Florida lawmakers tried to use fear as law and racial profiling as governance,” Jackson said. “SB 4-C was a flagrant abuse of power designed to punish immigrants and divide our communities. But the Constitution does not bend to political theater. This decision is a reminder that no matter how many times they try to turn back the clock on justice, we will meet them in court and in the streets — every single time. Our message is simple: immigrants belong, and we will never stop fighting for their freedom and dignity.”
