By Ana Ceballos, Syra Ortiz Blanes and Jay Weaver Herald/Times Tallahassee
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Wednesday told state and local law enforcement agencies that he cannot “prevent” them from enforcing a new state immigration law and that if they continue to make arrests of undocumented immigrants entering Florida, he thinks it would be lawful — even though a federal judge specifically ruled otherwise.
“It is my view that no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes your agencies from continuing to enforce Florida’s new illegal entry and reentry laws,” Uthmeier wrote in the memo, which his office shared with the Herald/Times.
The memo, echoed in a brief filed by his office on Wednesday in Miami federal court, sets up a showdown with U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams. Last Friday, Williams scolded lawyers for the state attorney general’s office after learning that Florida Highway Patrol officers had arrested more than a dozen people — including a U.S. citizen — after she had ordered them to stop in an April 4 ruling.
The law in question makes it a crime for an undocumented adult who came to the U.S. without checking in with border authorities to enter Florida. It is a key part of Ron DeSantis’ agenda as the governor pushes local and state law enforcement to join Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In an order Friday, Williams also extended her ruling blocking the enforcement of the law through April 29 and set another hearing for that day. She made clear that Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, municipal and county police departments, and any law enforcement officer with power to enforce the law were bound by her orders.
READ MORE: Federal judge ‘astounded’ that Florida cops violated her order on immigration arrests
After the Friday court order, Uthmeier sent a memo to state and local law enforcement officers and told them they “must refrain” from enforcing the law and obey the judge’s order, even though he disagreed with it.
“Please instruct your officers and agents to comply with Judge Williams’ directive,” he wrote in the Friday memo.
On Wednesday, he changed his tune.
“Judge Williams ordered my office to notify you of the evolving scope of her order, and I did so,” Uthmeier wrote. “But I cannot prevent you from enforcing [the state immigration laws] where there remains no judicial order that properly restrains you from doing so.”
In a court filing on Wednesday, Uthmeier’s office argued that the case, brought by immigrants and advocacy groups challenging the new state law, only applies to the named defendants: his office, Florida’s statewide prosecutor and the various state attorneys in Florida. State lawyers said the ruling does not apply to “independent” law enforcement agencies, such as the Highway Patrol, FDLE, county sheriffs’ offices and local police.
“They are not parties,” the state attorney general’s office argued, because they are not “in active concert or participation” with that office and state attorneys in Florida.
Uthmeier’s office argued “defendants have no power to control or direct” the behavior of state and local law enforcement.
“While the Attorney General communicated the [judge’s] view that law enforcement should not make arrests under [the state immigration law], he did so solely to comply with this Court’s order—which Defendants maintain is unlawful,” the office added.
In a statement Wednesday night, the ACLU of Florida, whose attorneys are among those representing the plaintiffs in the case, said Uthmeier’s memo runs afoul of the court order.
“The federal judge’s order was clear: it prohibits the state and its ‘officers, agents, employees, attorneys in, and any persons who are in active concert or participation with them’ from enforcing this law. Law enforcement agencies that enforce this unconstitutional law do so at their own legal peril,” the organization said.
DeSantis, who appointed Uthmeier to the attorney general post, backed him up. The governor circulated Uthmeier’s Wednesday letter and said “immigration law must be enforced and FL is leading on working with the Trump administration to get it done.”
“The mission continues,” DeSantis said in a post on X.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond when asked to clarify if he wanted police to continue making arrests despite the court order blocking enforcement of the law.
The development in Florida comes as the Trump administration wrangles with the federal courts. Trump’s Department of Justice, led by former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, has questioned the scope of judges’ orders, and asked the Supreme Court to limit the authority of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions.
This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 9:27 PM.
