Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier assured that his office will continue to litigate in favor of a state law making it illegal to reside there as an undocumented immigrant.
All of Florida’s 67 county sheriff’s departments agreed to be delegated duties by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The local officers were arresting illegal immigrants under a Florida law until Uthmeier was forced to order them to stand down as the law is under litigation. Uthmeier explained that even though these law enforcement departments aren’t parties to the case, he was ordered to do so by a judge.
“There are some cases up at the appellate level that contradict this law, that claim the federal government preempts us. We disagree with that and we’re very eager to litigate it. The judge did not like that law enforcement was continuing these arrests, which I was okay with, certainly supported,” Uthmeier said on Fox News’s Fox & Friends.
“We’re gonna litigate this ferociously. We believe we’re right. We need to defend state sovereignty,” Uthmeier said. “You can’t be a state and have law and order if illegals are allowed to just run over the border and commit crimes and tax the state in many ways.”
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Florida was the first state to allow its local law enforcement to deputize on behalf of ICE. It has long discouraged illegal immigrants with various laws. In 2023, the state implemented policies keeping illegal immigrants from gaining access to the workforce. Every employer in the state with over 25 employees must verify the citizenship of their workforce.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who will finish out his second term in 2026, also headed up an effort to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities.