Drew Dixon
An injunction blocking Florida from enforcing a law criminalizing undocumented immigrants was upheld by a judicial appeals court Friday.
The measure stipulated that the state could criminalize any undocumented immigrant as they come to the Sunshine State. But Friday, according to reports in the Miami Herald and other media outlets, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta agreed with a lower court’s ruling that prevented law enforcement and prosecutors from arresting those immigrants under the state’s SB-4 which was enacted in February after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the measure.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed the appeal to the higher court, which sought a stay on the temporary injunction. But the Atlanta appeals court disagreed with the Attorney General’s position.
“This is a difficult case, and this order does not finally resolve the issues,” states the order, issued by judges Jill Pryor, Kevin Newsom and Embry Kidd in Atlanta, according to the Miami Herald.
Immigration advocacy groups heralded the rejection of the appeal by Uthmeier. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was celebrating the appeals court decision.
In an ACLU press release, the organization said Uthmeier was overreaching repeatedly.
“The court also cited Attorney General Uthmeier’s troubling letter that had encouraged law enforcement officers to violate the district court’s injunction, which was recently the subject of a hearing in district court to consider possible contempt-of-court findings and sanctions,” the ACLU said in a press release.
Bacardi Jackson, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida, said the Florida measure was out of line from the beginning.
“This ruling is not just a legal victory — it’s a resounding rejection of cruelty masquerading as policy,” Jackson said. “Florida lawmakers tried to use fear as law and racial profiling as governance. SB-4 was a flagrant abuse of power designed to punish immigrants and divide our communities. But the Constitution does not bend to political theater. This decision is a reminder that no matter how many times they try to turn back the clock on justice, we will meet them in court and on the streets — every single time. Our message is simple: immigrants belong, and we will never stop fighting for their freedom and dignity.”
4 comments
Andrew
June 8, 2025 at 1:13 pm
These idiot judges who think they run this country and keep blocking the efforts to remove the “illegal invaders” need to be reined in and put in their place. The people voted this administration in with the belief that they would tackle this “invasion” problem, and they are trying to do just that. Try invading another country illegally and see what they do. Oh yeah, the other countries are not full of liberal morons – never mind !!!!
Foghorn Leghorn
June 8, 2025 at 2:28 pm
Lunatic liberal wacko judges. They are ILLEGAL. Libs can’t define what an illegal is. They also can’t define male and female
Michael K
June 8, 2025 at 2:52 pm
Immigration is a federal jurisdiction. Imagine the chaos of 50 different immigration laws. There once was a bipartisan immigration reform bill that would have passed in the previous Congress. But one man running for president preferred to spew lies about Haitians eating cats and dogs rather than working to find solutions.
Foghorn Leghorn
June 8, 2025 at 3:10 pm
Your party claimed they couldn’t stop the flood of illegals back during their gross mismanagement of the Southern Border. Well it’s basically closed now. How bout them apples?