Defiant Uthmeier says he won't tell cops to stop arrests under suspended immigration law

Yahoo

02-05-2025

Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks during a National Day of Prayer event at the Capitol complex on May 1, 2025. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)
Despite possibly facing contempt sanctions, Attorney General James Uthmeier won't tell law enforcement to comply with a federal judge's order suspending an immigration law that led to the arrest of a U.S. citizen.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams is considering holding Uthmeier in contempt over his greenlighting of arrests under a law making it a first-degree misdemeanor for a person to enter the state as an 'unauthorized alien' — despite her order temporarily blocking enforcement.
The law adds heightened penalties for re-entry.
In his first acknowledgement of the possible sanctions reported Tuesday, Uthmeier told Fox News Digital that he won't tell law enforcement to 'stop fulfilling their constitutional duties.' The attorney general's press secretary didn't respond to multiple requests for comment from the Florida Phoenix.
'I do not believe an AG should be held in contempt for respecting the rule of law and appropriate separation of powers,' Uthmeier said. 'The ACLU is dead set on obstructing President Donald Trump's efforts to detain and deport illegals, and we are going to fight back. We will vigorously defend our laws and advance President Trump's agenda on illegal immigration.'
U.S. judge slams state AG for calling court's block on immigration law illegitimate
Williams scheduled a hearing on May 29 in the Miami federal court to discuss sanctions against Uthmeier over his defiance of her court order in his April 23 letter to law enforcement stating that there wasn't a legitimate order stopping them from arresting people under the entry and reentry law.
But that April 23 letter was a pivot from another letter Uthmeier sent five days earlier, telling law enforcement agencies, sheriffs, and police chiefs that they shouldn't arrest anyone under SB 4C, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed on Feb. 13 and Williams temporarily blocked on April 4.
'Color me surprised and shocked,' Williams said, asking what had happened in the five days between the letters, during a Tuesday hearing.
His office did not say whether Uthmeier would attend the hearing. Uthmeier has been attorney general since February. DeSantis appointed his former chief of staff to replace Ashley Moody after her ascension to the U.S. Senate, another appointment by the governor.
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Along with the contemplation of sanctions, Williams on Tuesday suspended the law for the remainder of the litigation. However, the defendants — Uthmeier, the statewide prosecutor, and state attorneys — almost immediately filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. They've also asked Williams to remove her block.
The Florida Immigrant Coalition, The Farmworker Association of Florida, and two women lacking permanent legal status brought the suit against the state claiming the law is unconstitutional because federal law governs entry into the country.
'This case is about more than one law — it's about whether our leaders will follow the Constitution,' said Amy Godshall, an immigrants' rights attorney at the ACLU of Florida, in a press release Wednesday.
Americans for Immigrant Justice and the Community Justice Project attorneys also represent the plaintiffs.
Uthmeier's argument is that the court's order doesn't apply to law enforcement, including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Highway Patrol, because those entities are not named defendants and he lacks authority to discipline them.
Still, Williams showed irritation with that argument Tuesday, saying Uthmeier's statements on social media showed he exercises authority over law enforcement agencies.
The defendants' position that arrests should continue even if prosecutors can't carry forward the cases raised grave constitutional concerns with due process, Williams wrote in her order.
Continued arrests following the suspension of the law had also prompted frustration from Williams, who mentioned in her order the arrest of a U.S. citizen in Leon County.
An FHP trooper arrested Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old born in Georgia, on April 16. The case garnered national attention following the Florida Phoenix's reporting of the arrest without probable cause and Lopez-Gomez's subsequent release from the Leon County Jail.
No arrests under the suspended law have taken place since Williams further clarified on April 18 that her order applies to law enforcement, Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey DeSousa told Williams during the Tuesday hearing.
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