Latest news with #FloridaImmigrantCoalition
NBC News
20 hours ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Detainees held at Alligator Alcatraz describe cage-like units swarmed by mosquitoes
Legal advocates and relatives of immigrant detainees held in Florida's notorious Alligator Alcatraz are demanding the closure of the state-run facility, as allegations of human rights violations there and at other immigration detention centers mount. Detainees in Alligator Alcatraz, a new facility in the Everglades, described what they called torturous conditions in cage-like units full of mosquitoes, where fluorescent lights shine bright on them at all times. Detainees here also called attention to unsanitary conditions, as well as lack of food and reliable medical treatment for their chronic conditions. 'Detention conditions are unlivable,' said Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, during a news conference Tuesday outside the facility. The Trump administration's push to quickly ramp up immigration arrests has led to overcrowding at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. As of June 20, more than 56,000 people were spending the night in detention centers nationwide on any given day. That's 40% more than in June 2024 and the highest detention population in U.S. history, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Nearly 72% of those detained have no criminal history. Concerns over detention conditions intensified this week after the HRW report, published Monday, documented 'abusive practices' at three Florida immigration detention centers over the past six months. In addition, the New York Immigration Coalition released video showing dozens of men laying on foil sheets on the floor of a crowded immigration processing center in New York City. NBC News recently reported on similar allegations coming from immigration advocates and detainees held in detention centers across California, Texas, Louisiana, Washington and New Jersey. They described experiencing hunger, food shortages and sickness. 'It's like a dog cage' In Tuesday's news conference, Sonia Vichara held her mobile phone up to a microphone so her husband, Rafael Collado, could publicly describe from Alligator Alcatraz the conditions he has endured over the past two weeks. 'It's like a dog cage,' Collado, who is Cuban, said in his native Spanish. He said that a combination of floodwater from recent storms, limited access to showers and poor sanitation have caused him to get fungus on his feet. As he was describing how detainees are stripped naked every time they are moved to a different cell and there's not a set schedule to take his blood pressure medication, Collado was told by a guard to hang up, he said, ending the call. Vichara said her husband had been showing up to his immigration appointments for years until he was detained recently during a routine check-in at an ICE field office in Miramar. Another detainee, Juan Palma, also spoke to NBC Miami from inside Alligator Alcatraz on Monday. 'I feel like my life is in danger,' Palma, who is Cuban, said in Spanish. He described feeling 'in a state of torture," being swarmed by mosquitoes during his sleep and unable to tell night from day because the facility's fluorescent lights are always on. Palma also reported being allowed to shower only every three to four days and being kept in a cage-style unit with 32 other people. Both Vichara and Palma's wife, Yanet Lopez, said their respective husbands have criminal records, but they did their time. NBC Miami reported that Palma's record included grand theft, credit forgery and battery. Vichara did not provide details of Collado's record only limiting herself to say, 'He did made a mistake, but he paid for it for 10 years.' That's no excuse to put detainees in harm's way, Petit said. 'We are talking about exposing people to illnesses and even to their death. That is a human rights violation, doesn't matter if you are an immigrant,' she said. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin has denied all allegations of inhumane conditions at Alligator Alcatraz and at immigration detention centers across the nation, telling NBC News in an email Tuesday, 'All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority.' McLaughlin also said that ICE 'has worked diligently to obtain greater necessary detention space while avoiding overcrowding,' adding that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem 'has called on states and local government to help with bed and detention space capacity.' Concerns rise as detainee population rises Janeisy Fernández Díaz, the mother of Michael Borrego Fernández, a Cuban national being held in Alligator Alcatraz, called for the facility's closure Tuesday. 'I want this place to close,' she said on behalf of her son, who is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed last week by the American Civil Liberties Union against the Department of Homeland Security. In the complaint, four people being held in Alligator Alcatraz and their attorneys allege that the federal government has interfered with their ability to access detainees and provide them counsel, as well as 'harsh and inhumane conditions' at the facility. Borrego Fernández reported that people held in Alligator Alcatraz 'are only allowed one meal a day (and given only minutes to eat), are not permitted daily showers, and are otherwise kept around the clock in a cage inside a tent,' the complaint states. He also reported instances of physical assaults and excessive use of force by guards, along with a lack of medical care and attention. According to Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Borrego Fernández has spent more than 17 days at the facility, raising questions over the facility's operating standards. Alligator Alcatraz is not a traditional detention facility since it's operated and financed by the state of Florida to enforce federal immigration laws. NBC News has a pending information request to Florida officials, asking for a list of detainees and a copy of the standards outlining detention rules at the facility. During Tuesday's news conference, immigration advocates made it a point to reject the Alligator Alcatraz name, which began as a political moniker invented and adopted by Republican leaders and is now the facility's official name. It is not the only immigration facility in Florida facing allegations. Based on interviews with 11 current and former detainees at Krome North Service Processing Center, the Broward Transitional Center and the Federal Detention Center between January and June, as well as data analysis and conversations with 14 immigration lawyers, Human Rights Watch concluded in its report that people at these facilities were subjected to "dangerously substandard medical care, overcrowding, abusive treatment, and restrictions on access to legal and psychosocial support." The report also found that detainees were forced to sleep on cold, concrete floors without bedding and were given "substandard" food.
7NEWS
a day ago
- Politics
- 7NEWS
Detainees held at Alligator Alcatraz describe cage-like units swarmed by mosquitoes
US legal advocates and relatives of immigrant detainees held in Florida's notorious Alligator Alcatraz are demanding the closure of the state-run facility, as allegations of human rights violations there and at other immigration detention centres mount. Detainees in Alligator Alcatraz, a new facility in the Everglades, described what they called torturous conditions in cage-like units full of mosquitoes, where fluorescent lights shine bright on them at all times. Detainees here also called attention to unsanitary conditions, as well as lack of food and reliable medical treatment for their chronic conditions. 'Detention conditions are unliveable,' Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said during a news conference on Tuesday outside the facility. The Trump administration's push to quickly ramp up immigration arrests has led to overcrowding at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. As of June 20, more than 56,000 people were spending the night in detention centres nationwide on any given day. That's 40 per cent more than in June 2024 and the highest detention population in U.S. history, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Nearly 72 per cent of those detained have no criminal history. Concerns over detention conditions intensified this week after the HRW report, published Monday, documented 'abusive practices' at three Florida immigration detention centres over the past six months. In addition, the New York Immigration Coalition released video showing dozens of men laying on foil sheets on the floor of a crowded immigration processing centre in New York City. NBC News recently reported on similar allegations coming from immigration advocates and detainees held in detention centres across California, Texas, Louisiana, Washington and New Jersey. They described experiencing hunger, food shortages and sickness. 'It's like a dog cage' In Tuesday's news conference, Sonia Vichara held her mobile phone up to a microphone so her husband, Rafael Collado, could publicly describe from Alligator Alcatraz the conditions he has endured over the past two weeks. 'It's like a dog cage,' Collado, who is Cuban, said in his native Spanish. He said that a combination of floodwater from recent storms, limited access to showers and poor sanitation have caused him to get fungus on his feet. As he was describing how detainees are stripped naked every time they are moved to a different cell and there's not a set schedule to take his blood pressure medication, Collado was told by a guard to hang up, he said, ending the call. Vichara said her husband had been showing up to his immigration appointments for years until he was detained recently during a routine check-in at an ICE field office in Miramar. Another detainee, Juan Palma, also spoke from inside Alligator Alcatraz on Monday. 'I feel like my life is in danger,' Palma, who is Cuban, said in Spanish. He described feeling 'in a state of torture', being swarmed by mosquitoes during his sleep and unable to tell night from day because the facility's fluorescent lights are always on. Palma also reported being allowed to shower only every three to four days and being kept in a cage-style unit with 32 other people. Both Vichara and Palma's wife, Yanet Lopez, said their respective husbands have criminal records, but they did their time. NBC Miami reported that Palma's record included grand theft, credit forgery and battery. Vichara did not provide details of Collado's record, only limiting herself to say: 'He did make a mistake, but he paid for it for 10 years.' That's no excuse to put detainees in harm's way, Petit said. 'We are talking about exposing people to illnesses and even to their death,' she said. 'That is a human rights violation, doesn't matter if you are an immigrant.' DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin has denied all allegations of inhumane conditions at Alligator Alcatraz and at immigration detention centres across the nation, saying in an email Tuesday: 'All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers.' 'Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority.' McLaughlin also said that ICE 'has worked diligently to obtain greater necessary detention space while avoiding overcrowding', adding that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem 'has called on states and local government to help with bed and detention space capacity'. Concerns rise as detainee population rises Janeisy Fernández Díaz, the mother of Michael Borrego Fernández, a Cuban national being held in Alligator Alcatraz, called for the facility's closure Tuesday. 'I want this place to close,' she said on behalf of her son, who is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed last week by the American Civil Liberties Union against the Department of Homeland Security. In the complaint, four people being held in Alligator Alcatraz and their attorneys allege that the federal government has interfered with their ability to access detainees and provide them counsel, as well as 'harsh and inhumane conditions' at the facility. Borrego Fernández reported that people held in Alligator Alcatraz 'are only allowed one meal a day (and given only minutes to eat), are not permitted daily showers, and are otherwise kept around the clock in a cage inside a tent', the complaint states. He also reported instances of physical assaults and excessive use of force by guards, along with a lack of medical care and attention. According to Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Borrego Fernández has spent more than 17 days at the facility, raising questions over the facility's operating standards. Alligator Alcatraz is not a traditional detention facility, since it's operated and financed by the state of Florida to enforce federal immigration laws. NBC News has a pending information request to Florida officials, asking for a list of detainees and a copy of the standards outlining detention rules at the facility. During Tuesday's news conference, immigration advocates made it a point to reject the Alligator Alcatraz name, which began as a political moniker invented and adopted by Republican leaders and is now the facility's official name. It is not the only immigration facility in Florida facing allegations. Based on interviews with 11 current and former detainees at Krome North Service Processing Centre, the Broward Transitional Centre and the Federal Detention Centre between January and June, as well as data analysis and conversations with 14 immigration lawyers, Human Rights Watch concluded in its report that people at these facilities were subjected to 'dangerously substandard medical care, overcrowding, abusive treatment, and restrictions on access to legal and psychosocial support'. The report also found that detainees were forced to sleep on cold, concrete floors without bedding and were given 'substandard' food.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Detainees held at Alligator Alcatraz describe cage-like units swarmed by mosquitoes
Legal advocates and relatives of immigrant detainees held in Florida's notorious Alligator Alcatraz are demanding the closure of the state-run facility, as allegations of human rights violations there and at other immigration detention centers mount. Detainees in Alligator Alcatraz, a new facility in the Everglades, described what they called torturous conditions in cage-like units full of mosquitoes, where fluorescent lights shine bright on them at all times. Detainees here also called attention to unsanitary conditions, as well as lack of food and reliable medical treatment for their chronic conditions. 'Detention conditions are unlivable,' said Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, during a news conference Tuesday outside the facility. The Trump administration's push to quickly ramp up immigration arrests has led to overcrowding at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. As of June 20, more than 56,000 people were spending the night in detention centers nationwide on any given day. That's 40% more than in June 2024 and the highest detention population in U.S. history, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Nearly 72% of those detained have no criminal history. Concerns over detention conditions intensified this week after the HRW report, published Monday, documented 'abusive practices' at three Florida immigration detention centers over the past six months. In addition, the New York Immigration Coalition released video showing dozens of men laying on foil sheets on the floor of a crowded immigration processing center in New York City. NBC News recently reported on similar allegations coming from immigration advocates and detainees held in detention centers across California, Texas, Louisiana, Washington and New Jersey. They described experiencing hunger, food shortages and sickness. 'It's like a dog cage' In Tuesday's news conference, Sonia Vichara held her mobile phone up to a microphone so her husband, Rafael Collado, could publicly describe from Alligator Alcatraz the conditions he has endured over the past two weeks. 'It's like a dog cage,' Collado, who is Cuban, said in his native Spanish. He said that a combination of floodwater from recent storms, limited access to showers and poor sanitation have caused him to get fungus on his feet. As he was describing how detainees are stripped naked every time they are moved to a different cell and there's not a set schedule to take his blood pressure medication, Collado was told by a guard to hang up, he said, ending the call. Vichara said her husband had been showing up to his immigration appointments for years until he was detained recently during a routine check-in at an ICE field office in Miramar. Another detainee, Juan Palma, also spoke to NBC Miami from inside Alligator Alcatraz on Monday. 'I feel like my life is in danger,' Palma, who is Cuban, said in Spanish. He described feeling 'in a state of torture," being swarmed by mosquitoes during his sleep and unable to tell night from day because the facility's fluorescent lights are always on. Palma also reported being allowed to shower only every three to four days and being kept in a cage-style unit with 32 other people. Both Vichara and Palma's wife, Yanet Lopez, said their respective husbands have criminal records, but they did their time. NBC Miami reported that Palma's record included grand theft, credit forgery and battery. Vichara did not provide details of Collado's record only limiting herself to say, 'He did made a mistake, but he paid for it for 10 years.' That's no excuse to put detainees in harm's way, Petit said. 'We are talking about exposing people to illnesses and even to their death. That is a human rights violation, doesn't matter if you are an immigrant,' she said. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin has denied all allegations of inhumane conditions at Alligator Alcatraz and at immigration detention centers across the nation, telling NBC News in an email Tuesday, 'All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority.' McLaughlin also said that ICE 'has worked diligently to obtain greater necessary detention space while avoiding overcrowding,' adding that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem 'has called on states and local government to help with bed and detention space capacity.' Concerns rise as detainee population rises Janeisy Fernández Díaz, the mother of Michael Borrego Fernández, a Cuban national being held in Alligator Alcatraz, called for the facility's closure Tuesday. 'I want this place to close,' she said on behalf of her son, who is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed last week by the American Civil Liberties Union against the Department of Homeland Security. In the complaint, four people being held in Alligator Alcatraz and their attorneys allege that the federal government has interfered with their ability to access detainees and provide them counsel, as well as 'harsh and inhumane conditions' at the facility. Borrego Fernández reported that people held in Alligator Alcatraz 'are only allowed one meal a day (and given only minutes to eat), are not permitted daily showers, and are otherwise kept around the clock in a cage inside a tent,' the complaint states. He also reported instances of physical assaults and excessive use of force by guards, along with a lack of medical care and attention. According to Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Borrego Fernández has spent more than 17 days at the facility, raising questions over the facility's operating standards. Alligator Alcatraz is not a traditional detention facility since it's operated and financed by the state of Florida to enforce federal immigration laws. NBC News has a pending information request to Florida officials, asking for a list of detainees and a copy of the standards outlining detention rules at the facility. During Tuesday's news conference, immigration advocates made it a point to reject the Alligator Alcatraz name, which began as a political moniker invented and adopted by Republican leaders and is now the facility's official name. It is not the only immigration facility in Florida facing allegations. Based on interviews with 11 current and former detainees at Krome North Service Processing Center, the Broward Transitional Center and the Federal Detention Center between January and June, as well as data analysis and conversations with 14 immigration lawyers, Human Rights Watch concluded in its report that people at these facilities were subjected to "dangerously substandard medical care, overcrowding, abusive treatment, and restrictions on access to legal and psychosocial support." The report also found that detainees were forced to sleep on cold, concrete floors without bedding and were given "substandard" food. This article was originally published on Solve the daily Crossword
NBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Detainees held at Alligator Alcatraz describe cage-like units swarmed with mosquitos
Legal advocates and relatives of immigrant detainees held in Florida's notorious Alligator Alcatraz are demanding the closure of the state-run facility, as allegations of human rights violations there and at other immigration detention centers mount. Detainees in Alligator Alcatraz, a new facility in the Everglades, described what they called torturous conditions in cage-like units full of mosquitoes, where fluorescent lights shine bright on them at all times. Detainees here also called attention to unsanitary conditions, as well as lack of food and reliable medical treatment for their chronic conditions. 'Detention conditions are unlivable,' said Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, during a press conference Tuesday outside the facility. The Trump administration's push to quickly ramp up immigration arrests has led to overcrowding at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. As of June 20, more than 56,000 people were spending the night in detention centers nationwide on any given day. That's 40% more than in June 2024 and the highest detention population in U.S. history, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Nearly 72% of those detained have no criminal history. Concerns over detention conditions intensified this week after the HRW report, published Monday, documented 'abusive practices' at three Florida immigration detention centers over the past six months. In addition, the New York Immigration Coalition released video showing dozens of men laying on foil sheets on the floor of a crowded immigration processing center in New York City. NBC News recently reported on similar allegations coming from immigration advocates and detainees held in detention centers across California, Texas, Louisiana, Washington and New Jersey. They described experiencing hunger, food shortages and sickness. 'It's like a dog cage' In Tuesday's press conference, Sonia Vichara held her mobile phone up to a microphone so her husband, Rafael Collado, could publicly describe from Alligator Alcatraz the conditions he has endured over the past two weeks. 'It's like a dog cage,' Collado, who is Cuban, said in his native Spanish. He said that a combination of floodwater from recent storms, limited access to showers and poor sanitation have caused him to get fungus on his feet. As he was describing how detainees are stripped naked every time they are moved to a different cell and there's not a set schedule to take his blood pressure medication, Collado was told by a guard to hang up, he said, ending the call. Vichara said her husband had been showing up to his immigration appointments for years until he was detained recently during a routine check-in at an ICE field office in Miramar. Another detainee, Juan Palma, also spoke to NBC Miami from inside Alligator Alcatraz on Monday. 'I feel like my life is in danger,' Palma, who is Cuban, said in Spanish. He described feeling 'in a state of torture," being swarmed by mosquitoes during his sleep and unable to tell night from day because the facility's fluorescent lights are always on. Palma also reported being allowed to shower only every three to four days and being kept in a cage-style unit with 32 other people. Both Vichara and Palma's wife, Yanet Lopez, said their respective husbands have criminal records, but they did their time. NBC Miami reported that Palma's record included grand theft, credit forgery and battery. Vichara did not provide details of Collado's record only limiting herself to say, 'He did made a mistake, but he paid for it for 10 years.' That's no excuse to put detainees in harm's way, Petit said. 'We are talking about exposing people to illnesses and even to their death. That is a human rights violation, doesn't matter if you are an immigrant,' she said. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has denied all allegations of inhumane conditions at Alligator Alcatraz and at immigration detention centers across the nation, telling NBC News in an email Tuesday, 'All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority.' McLaughlin also said that ICE 'has worked diligently to obtain greater necessary detention space while avoiding overcrowding,' adding that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem 'has called on states and local government to help with bed and detention space capacity.' Concerns rise as detainee population rises Janeisy Fernández Díaz, the mother of Michael Borrego Fernández, a Cuban national being held in Alligator Alcatraz, called for the facility's closure Tuesday. 'I want this place to close,' she said on behalf of her son, who is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed last week by the American Civil Liberties Union against the Department of Homeland Security. In the complaint, four people being held in Alligator Alcatraz and their attorneys allege that the federal government has interfered with their ability to access detainees and provide them counsel, as well as 'harsh and inhumane conditions' at the facility. Borrego Fernández reported that people held in Alligator Alcatraz 'are only allowed one meal a day (and given only minutes to eat), are not permitted daily showers, and are otherwise kept around the clock in a cage inside a tent,' the complaint states. He also reported instances of physical assaults and excessive use of force by guards, along with a lack of medical care and attention. According to Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Borrego Fernández has spent more than 17 days at the facility, raising questions over the facility's operating standards. Alligator Alcatraz is not a traditional detention facility since it's operated and financed by the state of Florida to enforce federal immigration laws. NBC News has a pending information request to Florida officials, asking for a list of detainees and a copy of the standards outlining detention rules at the facility. During Tuesday's press conference, immigration advocates made it a point to reject the Alligator Alcatraz name, which began as a political moniker invented and adopted by Republican leaders and is now the facility's official name. It is not the only immigration facility in Florida facing allegations. Based on interviews with 11 current and former detainees at Krome North Service Processing Center, the Broward Transitional Center and the Federal Detention Center between January and June, as well as data analysis and conversations with 14 immigration lawyers, Human Rights Watch concluded in its report that people at these facilities were subjected to "dangerously substandard medical care, overcrowding, abusive treatment, and restrictions on access to legal and psychosocial support." The report also found that detainees were forced to sleep on cold, concrete floors without bedding and were given "substandard" food.
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Florida's attorney general appeals judge's contempt finding in immigration case
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has appealed a federal judge's ruling that found him in civil contempt because of a letter he sent in April after she ordered a halt to enforcement of a new state immigration law. Uthmeier's lawyers last week filed a notice of appealing U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams' ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. As is common, the notice does not detail arguments that Uthmeier will make at the Atlanta-based appeals court. But the appeal is the latest move in an unusual dispute between Uthmeier and the Miami-based judge. The issue stems from a law, passed during a February special legislative session, that created state crimes for undocumented immigrants who enter or re-enter Florida. The Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida and two individual plaintiffs filed a lawsuit on April 2, contending, in part, that the law violates what is known as the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution because immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility. Williams on April 4 issued a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of the law. She extended the temporary restraining order April 18 and directed Uthmeier to send a letter notifying police agencies that they could not enforce the law. The directive came after reports of arrests. Uthmeier sent such a letter April 18 but followed with an April 23 letter that spurred the contempt issue. Uthmeier has argued that the temporary restraining order — and a longer-lasting preliminary injunction issued later — should only apply to him and local state attorneys because they were the named defendants in the underlying legal challenge to the law (SB 4-C). In the April 23 letter to police agencies, Uthmeier reiterated that position and said he could not prevent police from enforcing the law 'where there remains no judicial order that properly restrains you from doing so,' according to Williams' June 17 contempt ruling. Williams said that statement and other wording in the letter violated her order, writing that in a 'variety of ways, Uthmeier's April 23rd letter conveyed to law enforcement that they could and should disregard the April 18th letter's message that they were required by court order to cease enforcement of SB 4-C.' 'Uthmeier's role endows him with a unique capacity to uphold or undermine the rule of law, and when he does the latter by violating a court order, the integrity of the legal system depends on his conduct being within the court's remedial reach,' Williams wrote in the 27-page contempt ruling. In a court filing in May, Uthmeier's lawyers said he complied with the temporary restraining order by not enforcing the law and notifying law-enforcement agencies about the temporary restraining order. The filing said Uthmeier was free to express his disagreement with Williams' decision in the April 23 letter. 'The attorney general has consistently abided by the court's order to cease enforcing (the law),' the document said. 'Nowhere does the TRO (expressly or impliedly) require the attorney general to refrain from sharing his views about the order with law enforcement.' The filing also said Williams' reading of the April 23 letter 'relies on one portion of one sentence, rather than reading (the) letter as a whole and in the context of what preceded it: the April 18 letter' and a legal brief that also was filed April 23. To carry out the contempt finding, Williams ordered Uthmeier to file bi-weekly reports about whether any arrests, detentions or other law-enforcement actions had occurred under the blocked law — filings he has submitted. Williams on April 29 issued a preliminary injunction to continue blocking the law, saying it likely was preempted by federal immigration-enforcement authority. In part, she pointed to the law requiring that violators go to jail and indicated that could conflict with federal authority. Uthmeier also has appealed the preliminary-injunction ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. He asked the appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of the preliminary injunction but was turned down. Such a stay would have allowed enforcement of the law while the legal battle plays out.
