Florida drags California to court over sanctuary policies that ‘put us all at risk!’
Florida – Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed a lawsuit against the state of California in the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to get rid of California’s “sanctuary” policies. The lawsuit, which is called Florida v. California, is the most recent step in the national argument about immigration enforcement and how states should work with the federal government.
Following orders from Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature, Florida is now one of the greatest backers of the federal government’s efforts to enforce immigration laws. Officials in Tallahassee highlighted that the state is now a national leader in enforcing immigration laws. This includes using federal partnerships under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which lets state and local officers do some immigration enforcement tasks. Florida has the most signed 287(g) agreements in the US right now, with 326. Florida now has almost twice as many as Texas which has 185.
Attorney General Uthmeier says that Governor Gavin Newsom’s support for California’s sanctuary policies is hurting national sovereignty and putting lives in neighboring states at risk. Uthmeier says that these rules have made it possible for undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses and commercial trucking qualifications, which have sometimes led to terrible things happening outside of California. He talked about Harjinder Singh, an undocumented immigrant with a California commercial driver’s license, who was in a crash that killed someone in St. Lucie County, Florida. According to Uthmeier, this incident shows how California’s “Values Act” and other legislation make it impossible for officials to check someone’s legal status and make the roads in the country less safe.
Florida officials say that there has been a bigger pattern of what they call failures in federal border management over the past four years. They say that states like Florida have had to step in to keep things in order. The state has made the E-Verify system more widely used, made sanctuary cities illegal, and sent police to Texas to help with border security operations.
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Uthmeier pointed out that California’s sanctuary framework not only puts a strain on Florida taxpayers, but it also encourages illegal immigration by giving benefits to people who have broken federal law. The case asks for a decision that will force California to follow federal immigration rules. The plaintiffs say that no state has the right to stop national immigration enforcement.
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The court battle is moving on, and it will be a big test of federalism and the limits of state power in immigration issues. Florida’s officials say the issue is about safeguarding both American sovereignty and public safety. They also claim they favor tough enforcement of immigration laws across the country.
