Federal judge says local police must follow order to halt enforcement of Florida immigration law

MIAMI (AP) — A national justice told attorneys for the authorities of Florida connected Tuesday that an bid freezing the enforcement of a caller authorities migration instrumentality perfectly did use to each of the state's section instrumentality enforcement agencies, contempt a caller missive to the contrary from the state's lawyer general.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said during a proceeding successful Miami that she planned to contented a preliminary injunction against a authorities statute that makes it a misdemeanor for undocumented migrants to participate Florida by eluding migration officials.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the authorities into instrumentality successful February arsenic portion of President Donald Trump’s propulsion to ace down connected amerciable immigration, though galore of Trump’s migration enforcement efforts are presently mired successful battles with national judges.

The justice had issued a 14-day impermanent restraining bid connected April 4, soon aft the suit was filed by the Florida Immigrant Coalition and different groups with enactment from the American Civil Liberties Union. She past extended it different 11 days aft learning the Florida Highway Patrol had arrested much than a twelve people, including a U.S. Citizen. The suit claims the caller instrumentality violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by encroaching connected national duties.

During Tuesday's hearing, Williams asked Jeffrey DeSousa, who is representing the Florida Office of the Attorney General, wherefore Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier released a memo to instrumentality enforcement agencies past week saying they didn't request to travel her order.

DeSousa said his office's presumption is that a judge's bid tin lone use to the named parties successful the suit being tried. Williams asked what would beryllium the constituent of allowing instrumentality enforcement officers to apprehension radical without probable origin erstwhile prosecutors weren't allowed to prosecute them, though DeSousa didn’t straight answer.

DeSousa besides argued that the migrant groups filing the suit could person named the idiosyncratic instrumentality enforcement agencies successful their complaint, alternatively than conscionable the Florida lawyer general, the statewide authoritative and Florida's 20 authorities attorneys.

ACLU lawyer Oscar Sarabia Roman said it would not person been applicable to individually sanction each 373 of the state's instrumentality enforcement agencies successful their complaint. He added that the judge's bid should person the authorization to forestall section constabulary from enforcing the caller law.

After Williams issued her bid hold April 18, Uthmeier sent a memo to authorities and section instrumentality enforcement officers telling them to refrain from enforcing the law, adjacent though helium disagreed with it. But 5 days later, helium sent different memo saying that the justice was legally incorrect and that helium couldn't forestall section constabulary officers and deputies from enforcing the law. No further arrests person been reported since Uthmeier's 2nd memo.