Attorney General James Uthmeier could face contempt sanctions over a letter he sent to Florida law enforcement agencies labeling as illegitimate a court order suspending a state immigration law that led to the arrest of a U.S. citizen.
In an order issued late Tuesday night, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams wrote that Uthmeier will have to prove that he shouldn’t face legal consequences over his greenlighting of arrests under the law, which she had temporarily blocked as likely unconstitutional.
At issue is an April 23 letter Uthmeier sent to law enforcement declaring that he couldn’t stop them from enforcing first-degree misdemeanor penalties to suspects accused of entering the state as an “unauthorized alien.” The law adds heightened penalties for re-entry.
Tuesday’s order also extends the suspension of enforcement of the law through the remainder of the litigation. The defendants — Uthmeier, plus Florida’s statewide prosecutor and state’s attorneys — almost simultaneously filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Williams scheduled a hearing to discuss sanctions for May 29 in federal court in Miami.
“Even prior to any formal discovery, there is evidence that AG Uthmeier has used his authority to encourage local law enforcement to continue making arrests under a law the Court has, for the time being, found unconstitutional,” Williams wrote.
Violation of court order
Uthmeier took office as attorney general in February, after Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him to fill the vacancy left by predecessor Ashley Moody’s elevation to the U.S. Senate (also by DeSantis). Before becoming the state’s chief legal officer, Uthmeier was DeSantis’ chief of staff.
The class action by the Florida Immigrant Coalition, The Farmworker Association of Florida, and two women lacking permanent legal status came after DeSantis signed the law on Feb. 13.
Williams referred to Uthmeier’s letter as a violation of the court’s temporary restraining order barring enforcement of the illegal entry law, which she originally issued on April 4 and emphasized on April 18 that it applied to law enforcement.
The irritated judge said she found it problematic and was offended by Uthmeier’s April 23 letter, in which he wrote that he believed “no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes your agencies from continuing to enforce Florida’s new illegal entry and reentry laws.”
“Do I need to put a ribbon on it?” Williams asked during a Tuesday afternoon hearing, referring to what more she could do to make her order legitimate.
Even then, Williams said she wouldn’t make Uthmeier sit for a deposition, a request plaintiffs’ attorneys said they have considered as the suit goes on. Although she didn’t discourage plaintiffs from filing a motion to depose Uthmeier, she said his state of mind when writing the letter was clear.
Acting Florida Solicitor General Jeffrey DeSousa told Williams the state viewed Uthmeier’s letter as explaining the position the defendants are arguing in court rather than an invitation to disobey the temporary block on the law. Instead, DeSousa shifted blame for the dispute to the plaintiffs, saying they should also have sued the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Highway Patrol, sheriffs, and police chiefs.
The defendants asked the court on Wednesday to pause the suspension of the law.
“The State would suffer the sovereign harm of having one of its laws enjoined, while continuing to suffer from the effects of illegal immigration,” the defendants’ attorneys wrote in a motion. “Meanwhile, the individual Plaintiffs continue with their violations of federal and state law and the organizational Plaintiffs seek to further that unlawfulness.”
Judge’s rebuttal
Williams pushed back against the defendants’ position that law enforcement isn’t bound by the suspension because they’re not named in the suit and Uthmeier lacks authority to discipline them.
In the order as well as during the hearing, Williams zeroed in on Uthmeier’s posts on X, stating that he had directed FDLE and FHP to monitor protests at Tesla dealerships and FDLE and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to execute a search warrant at a Panama City Beach aquarium.
“Those statements by the party Defendant support a conclusion that he exerts a measure of control over state and local law enforcement agencies’ criminal enforcement efforts, including those related to immigration,” Williams wrote in the order.
Allowing arrests that state prosecutors would be barred from pursuing in court would raise grave constitutional concerns, Williams wrote.
Continued arrests following the suspension of the law had prompted frustration from Williams. In her order, she mentioned the arrest of a U.S. citizen in Leon County.
An FHP trooper arrested Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old born in Georgia, on April 16. The case garnered national attention following Florida Phoenix’s reporting of the arrest without probable cause and Lopez-Gomez’s subsequent release from the Leon County Jail.
–Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix
