Florida attorney general held in contempt after challenging court's block on immigration law
A federal judge found Tuesday that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier was in civil contempt of court over her ruling to pause a new state law making it a crime for people living in the U.S. illegally to enter the state.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered on April 29 that Uthmeier show cause on "why he should not be held in contempt or sanctioned" for violating a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the court, though Williams ultimately decided he was unable to convince her otherwise.
"If being held in contempt is what it costs to defend the rule of law and stand firmly behind President Trump's agenda on illegal immigration, so be it," Uthmeier said Tuesday in a post on X.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation into law in February that made it a misdemeanor for illegal immigrants to enter the state as part of President Donald Trump’s push to crack down on illegal immigration.
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But on April 4, Williams issued a 14-day TRO in response to the law, following a lawsuit filed by the Florida Immigrant Coalition and other groups. She then extended the TRO another 11 days after learning the Florida Highway Patrol had arrested over a dozen people, including a U.S. citizen.
The court said on April 18 that Florida law enforcement officers were bound by the TRO, preventing them from enforcing the criminal immigration law.
The court also ordered the attorney general to provide notice to all law enforcement officers, which Uthmeier initially complied with.
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But on April 23, he sent a follow-up letter telling the law enforcement community that "no judicial order…properly restrains you from" enforcing the immigration law, adding that "no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes your agencies from continuing to enforce" the statute.
As a result, the court required Uthmeier to show cause as to why he should not be held in contempt for violating the TRO.
Following his response, the court opined that litigants cannot change the meaning of words as it suits them, ruling that Uthmeier was in contempt of the court’s April 18 order to provide the TRO to law enforcement officers regarding the enforcement of the immigration law.
As such, the court ordered Uthmeier to file bi-weekly reports detailing arrests, detentions or law enforcement actions when it comes to the immigration law prohibiting undocumented immigrants from entering the state of Florida, with the first being filed by July 1.
If any arrests had been made under the law, Uthmeier was ordered to notify the court about the details of the arrests.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.