Categories: U.S.

Federal judge orders local law enforcement to stop enforcing new immigration law

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Florida AG vows to ‘ferociously’ fight judge’s ruling halting migrant arrests

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss the state suing Snapchat over child safety concerns and a judge’s ruling halting the arrest of migrants.

A federal judge in Florida said an order that blocks local police from enforcing a new state immigration law applied to all local agencies despite the state’s attorney general stating otherwise in a recent memo.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams told attorneys for the state during a hearing in Miami on Tuesday that she planned to issue a preliminary injunction against a statute that makes it a misdemeanor for undocumented migrants to enter Florida by eluding immigration officials.

Williams said she was “surprised and shocked” that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told local police in a letter last week that they didn’t need to follow her order. 

“What I am offended by is someone suggesting you don’t have to follow my order, that it’s not legitimate,” Williams said.

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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier during a press conference on April 14. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Earlier this month, Williams issued a temporary restraining order against the statute. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation into law in February as part of President Donald Trump’s push to crack down on illegal immigration.

A Task Force comprised of local and federal law enforcement agencies searched a suspected illegal migrant’s vehicle in St. Johns County, Florida on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, following a traffic stop. (Stephanie Keith for Fox News Digital)

Williams extended the order another 11 days after learning authorities had arrested 15 people, including a U.S. citizen born in Georgia.

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After the extension, Uthmeier sent a memo to state and local law enforcement officers telling them to stop enforcing the law, even though he disagreed with the judge’s order. 

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Five days later, however, Uthmeier sent another memo saying that the judge was legally wrong and that he couldn’t prevent local police officers and deputies from enforcing the law. 

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No additional arrests have been reported since Uthmeier’s second memo.

Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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