“Evil effects of illegal immigration”: Florida AG seeks help from the Supreme Court to implement controversial law
Florida – In a heated fight over Florida’s aggressive and controversial immigration legislation, the state’s legal officer is going to the highest court in the country. Attorney General James Uthmeier has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to let him maintain enforcing a law that makes it a crime for undocumented immigrants to be in Florida.
The move comes after a series of courtroom setbacks for the state. In February, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 4-C into law. Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams put a stop to its implementation for a short time. Williams said that federal authorities, not the states, should deal with migrants, and he also said that Florida’s law probably goes against the U.S. Constitution.
In her April rulings, Judge Williams told Florida law enforcement that they couldn’t arrest or charge anyone only because they were in the state without legal immigration status. She said there would be “irreparable harm” and constitutional challenges, especially with the Dormant Commerce Clause and the idea that the federal government is in charge of immigration.
Attorney General Uthmeier didn’t want to accept the decision, so he filed a 34-page emergency appeal. He said that Florida is at risk of “the evil effects of illegal immigration” and that the court’s decision was “more than sadistic” and “more than a legal misstep.” Uthmeier said that the state’s law doesn’t go against federal laws. He thinks that SB 4-C is quite similar to current federal restrictions and has little to do with protecting the economy, which is the main point of the Dormant Commerce Clause argument.
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But Uthmeier hasn’t gotten much support from higher courts. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to put Judge Williams’ order on hold, so he took the case to the Supreme Court.
Things got heated when Uthmeier got into trouble with the federal judge. Uthmeier first told law enforcement not to enforce the law, but then he sent a second letter directing them to do so anyway, even though the judge had told them not to.
Because of this back-and-forth, Judge Williams held the attorney general in contempt, which is an uncommon and public punishment. Now, he has to send the court reports every two weeks on any police activities related to immigration that are against the law.
Despite the sanctions, Uthmeier has stood his ground, openly stating that he would rather be held in contempt than stop fighting for the law. He doubled back on social media, saying that his defiance was a statement for the rule of law and support for President Trump’s severe immigration policies.
The Supreme Court hasn’t said yet if it will hear Florida’s emergency request while the legal battle goes on. The judgment might establish a big precedent for how much control states have to enforce immigration laws within their own borders and how much power state authorities have to make their own decisions in this very controversial area of policy.
