Florida attorney general says he can't 'prevent' arrests under blocked law

[Zorro]

Attorney General James Uthmeier’s memo could set up a showdown with a federal judge.

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 immigrants entering Florida who are in the country illegally, 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 Miami Herald.

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 adult who came to the U.S. illegally without checking in with border authorities to enter Florida. It is a key part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda as the governor pushes local and state law enforcement to join President 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 the 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.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2025/04/24/uthmeier-immigration-law-blocked-arrests-migrants-judge/