Florida attorney general tells cops to stop immigration arrests, obey federal judge

Ana Ceballos, Miami Herald on Apr 19, 2025

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has directed state law enforcement officers to stand down on enforcing a new state immigration law, guidance that came shortly after a federal judge in Miami said she was “astounded” that state authorities had continued to make arrests despite her ordering them not to.

In a hearing in Miami federal court on Friday, lawyers suing the state said that as many as 15 arrests have been made by Florida law enforcement officers over the past two weeks in violation of an April 4 order issued by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams. One of the people arrested was a U.S. citizen born in Georgia.

Williams stopped short of considering holding state authorities in contempt of court. Instead, she extended her initial 14-day restraining order for another 11 days. She also made clear to lawyers with Uthmeier’s office that both state officials and law enforcement officers were bound by her order halting arrests of a new state law that targets undocumented immigrants entering Florida.

The state law makes it a misdemeanor crime for undocumented immigrants who came into the United States without inspection to enter Florida.

Following the court hearing, Uthmeier told the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Sheriffs and Florida Police Chiefs to “please instruct your officers and agents to comply with Judge Williams’ directives.” The arrest of the U.S. citizen was made by FHP.

While he told law enforcement agencies to follow the court’s order, Uthmeier also made clear that he disagreed with the “scope” of the order.

“I must note my disagreement with this order,” Uthmeier wrote in an email obtained by the Herald/Times. “For reasons my office has argued and will further outline in court, this clarification of Judge Williams’ prior order is both wrong on the merits and overbroad in its scope.”

Uthmeier doubled down on the arguments his office made in court on Friday. He said he believes the federal judge’s order halting enforcement of a new immigration law should only apply to the state Attorney General’s office and other executive branch officials, but not law enforcement officers.

“At most, a district court may enjoin the law enforcement community when it is acting in concert or participating with the named defendants to enforce these statutes, as my office will soon explain, the court’s current injunction exceeds that equitable limitation,” Uthmeier wrote.

He said his office will continue to make these arguments in court and if appropriate, it will take the fight to an appellate court.

At the court hearing Friday, Williams said she was “astounded” by the state’s arguments and said it was “concerning” to learn that state law enforcement agencies, like FHP, do not work “in concert with state officials.”

“When I issued the temporary restraining order, it never occurred to me that police officers would not be bound by it,” Williams said. “It never occurred to me that the state attorneys would not give direction to law enforcement so that we would not have these unfortunate arrests.”

Williams expressed her dismay at the state’s actions after a group of lawyers suing the state disclosed that at least 15 people were arrested across Florida after the judge had imposed a halt on enforcing the immigration law.

During the court hearing, the Florida Highway Patrol was the only agency mentioned as an arresting agency in those cases, including the one of the U.S. citizen.

In a statement Friday, FHP defended the U.S. citizen’s arrest, saying that he had made a statement to a state trooper that he “was not legally authorized to be in the country” and that “there was a federal detainer issued for him.”

“Florida Highway Patrol will continue to work willingly with our federal partners to engage in interior enforcement of immigration law,” the agency said.

The agency did not address questions on why the trooper made the arrest despite William’s court order.

The next hearing in the federal court case has been scheduled for April 29.

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(Miami Herald staff writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report.)

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