DeSantis stands by AG James Uthmeier's defiance of federal court order
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking at the Tampa Hula Bay Club on May 7, 2025. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)
Gov. Ron DeSantis is standing by Attorney General James Uthmeier's open defiance of a federal court order requiring law enforcement agencies in Florida to halt immigration arrests under a new state immigration law.
Talking with reporters in Tampa, the governor said the episode raises a 'larger issue' of who can enact public policy in the United States.
'He's right on the law,' DeSantis said about Uthmeier's decision to defy the court. 'He has the courage to stand and do what's right, even knowing that he's going to get blowback.'
DeSantis made those comments following a roundtable discussion on providing property tax relief at the Hula Bay Club in South Tampa. He said the legal standoff raises the question of whether it's the public who get to decide policy through popular elections or 'unelected lifetime-appointed judges.'
'There's a role for the judiciary, but it's to decide a case and a controversy before you,' he said. 'It's not to go outside the bounds of judicial policy or judicial role and try to enact policy.'
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams of the Southern District of Florida has suspended enforcement of the law (SB 4-C), passed by the Legislature in a special session in February and signed by the governor on Feb. 13, that gives state officers the power to arrest someone they suspect of entering the state as an 'unauthorized alien.'
Uthmeier has since filed an appeal of that decision with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
In a filing Wednesday, Uthmeier asked the appellate court to allow law enforcement to continue arrests as the litigation continues. The arrest by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper of a U.S. citizen in Tallahassee on April 16 under the law drew national attention and the ire of Williams, who had suspended the law on April 4.
'The district court's order wrongly binds all of Florida's law-enforcement officers — who are not parties, not the parties' agents, and not acting in concert with the parties — flouting longstanding equitable principles entitling every litigant to 'their day in court,'' the state's attorneys wrote.
At issue is also a letter Uthmeier wrote to law enforcement agencies in Florida on April 23 after Williams' original order blocking the law, advising them in part that 'no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes [their] agencies from continuing to enforce' the law.
Williams wrote in an order last week that Uthmeier needs to show cause why he should not be held in contempt or sanctioned for violating her order. A hearing on that matter is scheduled for May 29.
Bashing the judicial
The governor and Uthmeier contend that the judge in the case has gone beyond her boundaries in calling on Florida law enforcement agencies to stop making immigration arrests.
'She's trying to exercise authority that she does not possess. Fine,' DeSantis said. 'There's parties to the case and she's rendered a decision even though it's a flawed decision that will be appealed. … You can't go out and then say some sheriff in the Panhandle is somehow subject to your order — they were not involved in the litigation at all.'
DeSantis' criticisms echo those of President Donald Trump, who faces more than 200 lawsuits in just the first 100-plus days of his presidency, challenging the legality of his orders, according to Reuters. The president has referred to some of those judges as 'radical,' 'conflicted,' and 'rogue.'
Background on the suit
The ACLU challenged the law last month, along with Americans for Immigrant Justice on behalf of the Farmworkers Association of Florida, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, and two women lacking permanent legal status.
The law makes it a misdemeanor for adults who came to the U.S. illegally by eluding or avoiding examination or inspection by immigration officers to enter Florida. The groups contend that the law is unconstitutional because only federal authorities have the power to enforce immigration laws.
Since the lawsuit was filed, Judge Williams has issued and extended the restraining order that banned state authorities from enforcing the new law, but Uthmeier says he fundamentally disagrees with her decision.
'She wants the law enforcement officers to stop committing arrests, and the problem is the ACLU didn't sue any law enforcement officers,' Uthmeier said Tuesday night in an interview broadcast by the Newsmax cable network.
'So if they want to arrest people under the law, if they want to hand them over to ICE, if they want to help the Trump administration carry out detentions and deportations, they have the legal authority to do that, and I'm not going to stand in their way.'
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Iranian-American, Haitian Democratic lawmakers denounce Trump's travel ban
Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani and Democratic Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith speaking at a press conference in the Capitol on March. 19, 2025 (Photo credit: Mitch Perry / Florida Phoenix) Florida Democrats from countries in President Donald Trump's travel ban list denounced the policy that they say punishes families and hurts the economy during a virtual press conference Friday morning. Orlando Democrat Anna Eskamani, who's Iranian-American, said she worries she won't be able to see her aging grandmother before she passes. 'It is a very difficult reality for many of us, where we are navigating conflict in these homelands that are dictorial in nature, that make it difficult already to survive, and for folks who are fleeing that to achieve the American dream, it is heartbreaking and unAmerican that they cannot do that,' Eskamani said. Trump issued a proclamation late Wednesday barring the entry of people from a dozen countries, including Iran, and partially restricting entry of nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Florida is home to the largest population of Cubans, Venezuelans, and Haitians in the country. The travel ban proclamation, which cited national security concerns, goes into effect on Monday. The Democrats, who are in the superminority at the state Legislature, said Congress needed to be held accountable, particularly Florida's Republican delegation. 'At least within the Haitian community, ever since on the campaign trail, this administration has been targeting Haitians, and it's turned its back on Cubans as well,' said North Miami Democratic Rep. Dottie Joseph, of Haiti. Seminole Republican Rep. Berny Jacques, who is from Haiti, supports the Trump administration's policy. 'It is essential for our nation's sovereignty and security,' he wrote to Florida Phoenix. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Pete Hegseth Is No Match for the LGBTQ+ Community
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." The Trump-Musk feud has erased this news from our brains, but it was only two days ago that Pete Hegseth ordered the United States Naval Ship Harvey Milk—named for the first out gay man to be elected to American public office—to be renamed. The Defense Secretary didn't identity a new moniker for the ship, but it will probably be the USNS Kettlebell Swing or the USNS Morgan Wallen or the USNS Can Always Work In A Happy Gilmore Quote or whatever. This move, announced at the beginning of Pride Month, is spiteful and stupid, and yet there's also something hopeful buried in all this pointless cruelty. It's something I learned from Randy Shilts' biography of Harvey Milk, The Mayor of Castro Street, and it explains something I'd been wondering about for a long time. In 1940, in the run up to World War II, the U.S. passed the Selective Service Act, forcing all men between the ages of 21 and 36 to register for the draft. After the attack on Pearl Harbor and America's declaration of war, the age range would widen to include every man between 18 and 45. It was the biggest draft in history: of the 10.1 million American soldiers who served in WWII, over 60 percent were conscripted. Of course there were get-out-of-war-free cards: one could register as a conscientious objector, doctor, public official, or clergyman. But you could also be deemed unfit to serve if you were 'observed to be homosexual,' as homosexuality was officially classified as a mental illness. Probably because the military needed warm bodies, very few people got out of the draft this way. Many many more went on to serve. When WWII ended, the United States military was way overstaffed and needed to do what is fair to call 'layoffs.' The many millions of paychecks and pensions is a lot, so the dishonorable discharges began. For the untold thousands of soldiers who had been 'observed to be homosexual,' the military, let us say, stopped observing the other way. The military processed them out of the service, with a special blue discharge H. A blue ticket made the discharged soldier ineligible for a pension, for benefits like the GI Bill, and made finding civilian employment that much more difficult. A blue ticket outed these guys, whether they were ready for that or not, in a year that began with a 1 and a 9 and a 4, in a world that was unimaginably hostile. The U.S. military was only obligated to process these soldiers back to the debarkation point from which they shipped out. These men were on their own to get themselves back to their hometowns, and with the scarlet A that was the blue H, many understood that they would be unwelcome there. The debarkation point from which most U.S. soldiers who served in the Pacific theater were shipped out was San Francisco. So a lot of these guys, pariahs in a post-WWII frenzy of nationalism, just stayed there. They found one another—being made a pariah can help you do that. The option of anonymity having been ripped away from them, they lived openly. They made a community. They started to fight for the rights of that community. And that's one of the reasons why LGBTQ+ people in America have the rights that we do. The bigotry and ignorance of the mid-20th century U.S. military created the Castro neighborhood in San Francisco. How lucky are we that bigots and ignorant people are often too stupid to think two moves ahead. Harvey Milk would go on to enlist in the Navy during the Korean War, after which he was forced to accept one of those blue discharges. In 2016, the Navy named one of its Military Sealift Command ships the USNS Harvey Milk. All the vessels in this John Lewis class of oiler ships were to be named after civil rights leaders: Earl Warren, Sojourner Truth, Dolores Huerta. But this week brought the announcement that the Harvey Milk will be renamed, and the naming of the rest of the fleet will be reviewed to 'ensure that they are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos.' This order came from the office of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has demonstrated that he is an ignorant person, a Trump sycophant, and has singlehandedly undone four decades of beer commercials in that he makes drinking look like a disgusting and irresponsible habit. Renaming Naval ships to reflect the president's bigoted priorities is cowardly. Any of the men with that blue discharge H back then, any queer person on Earth now, any trans kid figuring themselves out right this second, has more strength, bravery, and integrity in their left elbow than Pete Hegseth has in his whole body. We have overcome worse. We will overcome Pete Hegseth and his pathetic ilk. And we will do it together. Queer people, fair-minded people, soulful people who aren't scared of a name on a boat. Happy Pride. Now, to send you into the weekend, here's a playlist reflecting all the week's news, so you don't spiral from having lived through it. Apple Music // Spotify 'Neanderthal' Bob Mould Allow the great Bob Mould to bring the furious aggro gay man energy that this moment requires. 'Rip Her To Shreds' Blondie It appears that Donald Trump and Elon Musk have had a full falling out, as anyone with a nine-year-old's understanding of human nature predicted they eventually would. It's two sad, friendless guys, afraid of their emotions, blasting each other on social media. It's Kendrick vs. Drake except they're both Bubba Sparxxx. It's like a particularly nasty fight on a Vanderpump Rules reunion episode, except one of them has all of our personal information and the other has the nuclear codes. Musk said Trump is in the Epstein Files; Trump has said the federal government is going to terminate all of Musk's subsidies and contracts; and Kanye West has tweeted 'Broooos please noooooo we love you both so much.' It is in the 'moderately entertaining' phase right now, and I am years into my 'tired of being entertained by politics' era. Go on BetterHelp and leave it there, boys. 'SEEIN STARS' TURNSTILE Turnstile's new album Never Enough is out tomorrow, and tonight at theaters across the country, they're dropping the whole thing as a visual album. Get tickets here. I love this band for a lot of reasons, but their aesthetic is especially on point. 'The Edge of Forever' The Dream Academy Thanks to a diligent reporter for Baseball Prospectus, we know that Thursday—June 5—is the fortieth anniversary of the day Ferris Bueller took off. The movie was released in June of 1986, but made the year before, and June 5, 1985 was the only day the Cubs would have played the Braves with Lee Smith as starting pitcher. Thank God for obsessives. Thank God for this perfect movie, and thank God they never made a sequel. (I am choosing to forget the short-lived TV show.) This is the track that plays when they're all at the Art Institute and Cameron is vibing out on that pointillist Seurat painting. (I am aware I could have put 'Oh Yeah' by Yello on this playlist, but I love you too much for that.) 'Blood & Guts' Middle Brother Speaking of the movies, last night I saw one of the freakiest, funniest, most fucked-up films I have ever seen, and my all-time favorite movie is Broadcast News, so you maybe shouldn't take it from me, but do. Jimmy & Stiggs is a sci-fi horror film made by an indie auteur named Joe Begos, for $200,000, over the course of four years. It's about two very drunk and stoned friends fighting a horde of invading aliens. It's very gory, and the gore is day-glo. It's also all shot in his own apartment, so indie auteur Joe Begos is not getting his security deposit back. Horror legend Eli Roth was so taken with it, he's made it the first release for his brand new releasing company The Horror Section. Jimmy & Stiggs will be on 1,500 screens starting August 15. You'll want to see it in a theater. Here's the trailer. 'Get Better' Frank Turner This week, punk-folk troubadour Turner posted a conversation between himself and Scottish filmmaker Stuart Alexander. It's sort of an interview that turns into more of a conversation. It's sort of a podcast, titled Somewhere Inbetween, except we don't know when or how often or even if we'll get more episodes. The subject is 'Drugs & Addiction,' and in it, Turner talks about his cocaine habit and what made him get sober, except not really sober, because now he only does cocaine sometimes. He talks about hitting a rock bottom that wasn't actually so bad, and going to a rehab that really kind of sounds like regular therapy, and how his wife saved his life, but maybe it also wasn't that serious and anyway how he's seeing someone new. It's candid and vulnerable and frustrating and I get the overall sense that he's not being completely honest with himself, but I'm glad he put it out there. I think. Anyway, Frank Turner is ferociously talented and one of the best live performers I've ever seen and I hope he's okay. 'Don't Feel Bad' Rain Parade David Roback's band before he started Mazzy Star rereleased and deluxified their 1986 album Crashing Dream this week, just in time for summer. 'Maps' Richard Walters This English singer-songwriter released a beautiful stripped-down cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's classic, recorded in his countryside cabin. I am loving the new, sunnier Bon Iver and what it tells us about Justin Vernon's overall mental state, but I am glad someone is still occupying the wilderness bummer space. 'Oh Patti' Scritti Politti Patti LuPone apologized this week for the comments she made in The New Yorker about Kecia Lewis (calling her a bitch, saying she hasn't done enough shows to be a Broadway legend) and Audra McDonald (calling her 'not a friend,' saying that they're in a feud, which was apparently news to Audra). Listen: Patti mouths off. That's kind of her whole thing. But it's possible that we've given her a little too much positive reinforcement for it. We have maybe yaaaas, messy queened her a time too many, go off mouthy legended her down the stoney end. Now, apology notwithstanding, 600 Broadway professionals have signed a letter asking that she be uninvited from this weekend's Tony Awards. I don't know, y'all, I feel like this one's on us. 'Animal' Goose Zachary Peck wrote a piece for Esquire a couple of weeks about how an all-meat diet turned his life and his wife's life around, and I have thought about it every day since. I am at the beginning of a quest to become Middle Age Jacked—more on that soon—and it might just be that this essay is the flint that will really light the fire. Or put me in the hospital. Let's find out together. 'I Know A Place' MUNA As I mentioned, it's Pride, and that means there are tons of parties and parades for me to find out about after they've already happened. West Hollywood Pride was last weekend, as I found out on Sunday, because it broke off from Los Angeles Pride, which is happening this weekend in Hollywood Hollywood, but don't get that confused with Downtown Los Angeles Pride, which happens in August, or Long Beach Pride, which happened in May, and then there's Palm Springs Pride, but that's not until November, because if you go outside in Palm Springs in the summertime, you become a bowl of clam chowder. I will be in my backyard with a small group of friends for all of this. Whatever you're doing, do it proudly, unless it's some Pete Hegseth shit, in which case don't do it at all. You Might Also Like Kid Cudi Is All Right 16 Best Shoe Organizers For Storing and Displaying Your Kicks
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
More money, more problems? Florida's budget battle belies chronic issues
Florida is flush with cash, but its public workforce is running on empty. The Florida National Guard has been helping staff state prisons for two and a half years. There's a teacher shortage and a nursing shortage. There are 1,800 troopers patrolling a state with 7 million vehicles and more than 140 million tourists per year. All this in a state in strong fiscal health with ample reserves and a lean budget compared to other large states. Federal stimulus funds from the COVID-19 era, combined with inflation that boosted its sales tax-reliant revenues, padded its coffers. That helped lawmakers set aside massive reserves, about $17 billion in the current year. For Republicans who have held the reins of the state for nearly three decades, it's a point of pride to have the lowest number of workers per capita and to have half of New York's budget with more people. Such fiscal restraint – Florida's constitution requires lawmakers to pass a balanced budget each year – helps the state avoid the deficits and woes of Democratic-run states like Illinois and California. Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, revel in the contrasts to those states and boast of the state's fiscal picture. 'We've been running major, major budget surpluses, certainly over the last four years,' DeSantis said at a March 10 event in Winter Haven. 'We're spending, this year, less money than we spent last year … we have the lowest footprint of government workers per capita in the entire United States of America.' But Republican legislative leaders, after deadlocking on budget negotiations that threw the session into overtime, are still trying to reach a deal on a final spending plan. The dispute, though, is over how much to permanently cut taxes to restrain spending growth, not over how to pay for pressing needs that have long languished as the state continues to grow. House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, pushed for a sales tax cut to keep spending contained. Florida's budget has grown from $82.6 billion in 2019 to $118.6 billion for the current year. But Sen. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, resisted the move, saying it would hamper lawmakers' ability to meet the needs of a growing state. When they first attempted a compromise that included a 0.25% cut to the 6% sales tax, DeSantis nixed it by pledging to veto the plan. He feared cutting the sales tax would crowd out his push for massive property tax reductions. Now, Perez and Albritton have a framework to resolve the budget differences, including a deal for $2.25 billion in permanent tax reductions, although the details of those cuts still need to be negotiated. For Democrats, stuck in superminority status in the Legislature, the fracas over the budget doesn't address chronic issues facing the state. 'There's actually investments, real investments that need to be made to ensure our government is functioning properly and I just don't think that this is the time to discuss cuts when we haven't adequately funded our schools, our prison system, our unemployment system,' said House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa. 'It feels sometimes like the governor and legislative leadership don't really care how people are living; they just want to get what they want so that they can say that they got it. But how does that really help improve the lives of Floridians who are struggling to make ends meet?' To be sure, Republicans in recent years have put some money toward addressing the issues, putting more money towards pay for prison guards, troopers, teachers and to educate and train nurses. But the freeze on worker pay that lasted for years during and after the Great Recession left the state well behind the pay for competing industries in the private sector or other public entities. That led to massive turnover and shortages in vital areas. Inflation, too, has hampered efforts to provide competitive pay in several vital workforce positions. In September 2022, DeSantis issued an executive order to place National Guard members in prisons facing critical shortages of guards, known as correctional officers. The Department of Corrections (DOC) has faced chronic issues of turnover and trouble recruiting and retaining officers. A few years ago, the starting salary for a Florida prison guard was less than $33,000, and leaders at the DOC said they were competing with WalMart for workers. Lawmakers have tried to address the issue by giving pay raises to guards, boosting the starting pay by $15,000 in recent years. The raises have helped alleviate the issue. The Tampa Bay Times reported the number of vacant positions at state prisons has dropped from 5,000 to 1,000. But recruitment and retention problems have persisted, hampered by inflation, and staffing shortages could return if the Guard leaves. DeSantis issued four extensions of his order in the face of the problem, but the latest order is set to expire later in June. In budget talks, the Senate has offered to set aside $30 million to pay for a DOC deficit related to staffing, while the House wants $53 million for overtime pay. The Florida Highway Patrol, facing shortages of troopers, has relied heavily on overtime. During a March 11 meeting of a House budget committee, Dave Kerner – who heads the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which includes the FHP – told lawmakers his difficulty in retaining troopers. 'We spend an inordinate amount of money on overtime because of the low staffing we have at the Florida Highway Patrol,' Kerner said. 'Because of the lack of pay the lack of career development plan it is much more efficient for a trooper to come and work at the Florida Highway Patrol, get trained and then three years later leave to a better paying department and so we have to supplement that vacancy rate with overtime,' he added. He was responding to Rep. Randy Maggard, R-Dade City, who blanched at the $10 million price tag for overtime for the nearly 1,800 troopers. Kerner said there were 288 vacancies, including 138 vacancies of sworn patrol officers as of March 1 at FHP. Legislators have put more money into raises and bonuses for troopers in recent years, and DeSantis has called for pay raises of 20% and 25% for entry level and veteran law enforcement officers, respectively, including state troopers. But the House has resisted the raises for FHP, as well as nearly $10 million to replace and upgrade part of FHP's fleet of vehicles. A January report from the Florida Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, showed 3,197 teacher vacancies in public schools. The number was down from about 4,000 the year before, showing improvement but union officials still were alarmed at the 16% rise in teachers in charge of classes without a certification in that subject area. Prodded by DeSantis, lawmakers have put more money into teach salaries since he took office in 2019, raising annual pay by $1.25 billion per year. In ongoing budget talks, the House has offered to increase that by $91 million. The Senate prefers a $100 million increase. Those increases, though, haven't kept up with other states, which have also boosted average teacher salaries, leaving Florida near the bottom for pay among state. Inflation has also eaten into the nominal gains. Lawmakers also have tried to address projected shortages of nurses. A 2021 analysis by the Florida Hospital Association estimated a shortage of 59,100 nurses by 2035, as Florida continued to grow – and age. But an association report from September showed progress – vacancies and turnover were down significantly compared to the prior year. And the Legislature had passed the Live Healthy Act, which put $716 million to boosting health care access and expanding the health care workforce. In the latest budget talks, however, the House has sought to cut the $30 million boost to the Florida Reimbursement Assistance for Medical Education (FRAME) program in the Live Healthy Act. It offsets loans and expenses for those seeking degrees and licenses in the medical, nursing, dental and mental health fields. Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@ Follow him on X: @GrayRohrer. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: In DeSantis' Florida, state budget booms as public workforce runs dry
