Some Florida officers are continuing to charge people under halted immigration law
Two more people were arrested and charged under the law in July, according to a report Florida's attorney general is required to file as punishment for defying the judge's ruling.
Both men were arrested by a sheriff's officer in Sarasota County, located on the state's southwest coast. The charges came months after U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami first halted enforcement of the state statute, which makes it a misdemeanor for people who are in the U.S. without legal permission to enter Florida by eluding immigration officials.
As punishment for flouting her order and being found in civil contempt, the judge required Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier to file bimonthly reports about whether any arrests, detentions or law enforcement actions have been made under the law.
In separate incidents on July 3 and July 28, the men were each charged with driving without a valid license and offenses related to driving under the influence of alcohol. The State Attorney's Office for the 12th Judicial Circuit dismissed the illegal entry charges against them, and requested that the sheriff's office advice the arresting officer of the court's order halting enforcement of the law, according to the status report.
A spokesperson for Uthmeier did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a separate court filing, immigrants' rights advocates who filed the lawsuit questioned whether state officials are using the blocked law to justify holding detainees at an isolated immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz.'
Attorneys for the advocates provided the court an email apparently sent by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement employee to the offices of members of Congress, stating that Florida officials are relying on legal authority granted by the blocked law.
'ICE's email raises serious concerns about potential violations of the Court's injunction on a large scale,' attorneys for the immigrants' rights groups wrote, asking the court to order the state to explain under what legal authority it's holding people at the Everglades facility.
___
Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US rapper Sean Kingston jailed for million-dollar fraud scheme
US rapper Sean Kingston has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of a one million dollar (£738,000) fraud scheme in which he leveraged his fame to dupe sellers into giving him luxury items he then never paid for. Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were each convicted in March by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. Turner was sentenced to five years in prison last month. The singer apologised to judge David Leibowitz before he was sentenced in South Florida, saying he had learned from his actions. His lawyer asked if he could self-surrender at a later date due to health issues, but the judge ordered Kingston to be taken into custody immediately. The rapper, who was wearing a black suit and white shirt, removed his suit jacket and was handcuffed and led from the courtroom. Kingston, 35, and his mother were arrested in May 2024 after a raid on his rented mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Turner was taken into custody during the raid, while Kingston was arrested at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California's Mojave Desert, where he was performing. According to court records, Kingston used social media from April 2023 to March 2024 to arrange purchases of high-end merchandise. After negotiating deals, Kingston would invite the sellers to one of his high-end Florida homes and promise to feature them and their products on social media. Investigators said that when it came time to pay, Kingston or his mother would text the victims fake receipts for the luxury merchandise, which included a bulletproof Escalade vehicle, watches and a 19ft (5.9-metre) LED TV, investigators said. When the funds never cleared, victims often contacted Kingston and Turner repeatedly, but were either never paid or received money only after filing lawsuits or contacting police. Kingston, who was born in Florida and raised in Jamaica, shot to fame aged 17 with the hit Beautiful Girls, which laid his lyrics over Ben E King's 1961 song Stand By Me. The song was at number one in the UK singles chart for four weeks in 2007.
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Missing Hairstylist's Ex Believed to Be on Video Lifting Heavy Object — With Possible Arm Sticking Out — Into Dumpster
Ashley Elkins' ex-boyfriend Deandre Booker has been charged in connection with her January killing NEED TO KNOW Ashley Elkins, 30, disappeared from her Michigan home after running out for errands on Jan. 2 Her ex-boyfriend Deandre Booker has been charged with murder, among other offenses, in connection with her death Elkins' body was never found The ex-boyfriend of Michigan mom Ashley Elkins, who disappeared in January, is believed to be the man seen in security camera footage pushing a cart that appeared to have an arm hanging from it, per local police. Deandre Booker, 33, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with Elkins' disappearance from her Warren, Mich., home where she was last seen on Jan. 2, PEOPLE previously reported. Her disappearance came to light after her family carried out an extensive campaign to have police investigate it. Authorities initially arrested Booker in nearby Roseville, Mich., on charge of lying to an officer, before he was charged with murder in late January, the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office previously confirmed to PEOPLE. While searching Booker's home during their investigation, Roseville police claim to have recovered items from the residence indicating Elkins was the victim of a "crime of violence," Warren Police Department Lt. John Gajewski told PEOPLE at the time. Her disappearance led to an extensive search, but no trace of Elkins was never found. During a preliminary examination that began last week, Roseville Detective Chris Moran testified in court that they recovered security footage showing a man, believed to be Booker, pushing a cart towards a dumpster, WDIV Local 4 and The Detroit News reported. Moran testified the cart contained something covered in a white sheet, which the man appeared to be struggling to lift into the dumpster. He further testified that he saw what seemed to be an arm hanging off from the cart, per The Detroit News. When questioned by Booker's lawyer, Roseville Police Detective Patrick Taylor testified that while it was not clear in the video who the man was, he appeared to have similarities with Booker's clothing from earlier that day: a dark coat with a fur hood, black pants with holes in them, a black hat and black shoes with white bottoms, the outlet reported. Taylor also testified, according to The Detroit News, that during their search of Booker's home, they found clothes similar to those worn by the man in the video. The dark fur coat in the home including a faded area that appeared to show dried blood. Authorities began investigating Booker in January after Elkins' family tracked her phone to Booker's home, her family previously told PEOPLE. Days before Elkins disappeared, on New Years Eve, Booker allegedly showed up to Elkins' home salon under a fake name, her sister said at the time. Elkins hid from Booker until he left. Two days later, she disappeared, leaving behind two young was charged with first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, disinterment and mutilation and concealing a death. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Piers Morgan quickly backtracks after ‘mistakenly' posting photo of Trump wearing kneepads ahead of Putin summit
Piers Morgan said he thought a picture of Donald Trump wearing kneepads was a real image of the president preparing for his 'high stakes' summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that he deleted the photo when he realized it was fake. The British tabloid host went on to claim that the satirical pic of Trump merely came across his social media feed and he immediately reposted it alongside well-wishes to Trump. Needless to say, Morgan faced a flood of mockery for posting the mocked-up photo of the president, something he acknowledged after deleting the image. Hours before Trump actually touched down in Alaska for the summit with Putin, which is part of an attempt by the president to secure a ceasefire agreement in the bloody Ukraine-Russia war, Morgan – who has enjoyed a long (and fraught) friendship with Trump – posted an altered picture of the president exiting Air Force One. Apparently believing this was a live photo and that the president had just landed in Anchorage, the Piers Morgan Uncensored host delivered a message of hope ahead of Trump's meeting with Putin. 'As President [Donald Trump] lands in Alaska, I wish him the very best of luck in trying to secure an end to the horrendous war in Ukraine,' Morgan tweeted. 'It's refreshing to see a U.S. president who genuinely prefers peace to war.' With the picture showing a waving Trump donning bright red kneepads, it didn't take long for Morgan to get inundated with comments from other users on X asking him if he was aware that he had shared a meme that was mocking the president. 'Did you intentionally post a photo with Trump wearing knee pads or are [you] just an idiot? Evil or idiot? Which is it?' one poster pressed Morgan, prompting the presenter to chalk it up his tweet to ignorance. 'No.. I didn't see the kneepads on that pic, so just deleted and reposted with a different pic!' Morgan replied. In response to journalist Tara Palmeri wondering what had happened because the post was 'quickly deleted,' Morgan gave a more detailed explanation. 'I saw the pic on my feed and mistakenly believed it was a live one, and didn't spot the mocked up kneepads,' he replied to Palmeri. 'I couldn't understand why so many people were laughing and raging about it. Then I realized, deleted it and reposted with another pic. My words remained the same.' It is more than a bit ironic that Morgan fell for an obviously fake photo when it was just a week ago that he trolled NewsNation anchor Chris Cuomo for getting duped by a blatantly obvious deepfake video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) purportedly delivering a House floor speech denouncing the Sydney Sweeney 'good jeans' ad. 'Oh dear @ChrisCuomo - perhaps spend less time b*tching about me and more time trying to spot obvious fakes,' Morgan tweeted at Cuomo alongside several laughing emojis. 'You got clip i didnt pay attn I wont block you for saying how easy that is, my yappy friend?' Cuomo responded at the time.
