Overview

• U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams found AG James Uthmeier in civil contempt for instructing law enforcement to ignore her April order barring enforcement of Florida’s new misdemeanor for undocumented entry.
• Williams ordered Uthmeier to file detailed biweekly reports on any arrests, detentions or law enforcement actions taken under the blocked immigration law, with the first due by July 1.
• The judge pointed to Uthmeier’s public interviews and two official memos disputing her injunction as evidence of a defiant posture toward the court’s clear and unambiguous order.
• Florida’s SB 4C, signed in February by Gov. Ron DeSantis, remains suspended after the Eleventh Circuit upheld Williams’ injunction pending resolution of a constitutional challenge.
• The lawsuit was filed by the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida and other groups represented by the ACLU, arguing the state law is preempted by federal immigration authority.