ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — At least two people have been falsely charged under Florida law prohibiting people living in the United States from entering the state illegally since federal judges stopped enforcement, according to a report by the Florida Attorney General.
Both men were arrested in late May by deputies from St. John’s County in northeastern Florida, more than a month after Miami US District Judge Kathleen Williams issued an order to freeze state law enforcement. The law makes it a misdemeanor for people in the United States without a legal permit to enter Florida by escaping immigrant staff.
Florida Attorney General James Usmieyer said in a report filed early in July that he began to notice two incidents at the end of June after requesting information from state and local law enforcement. As punishment for being found in light of her order and in a light emptying, the judge requires Uthmeier to submit a Bimonthly report on whether an arrest, detention or law enforcement action was made under the law.
On May 29, deputies for the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office arrested an active immigrant detainee from immigrants and customs enforcement and another man driving without a valid driver’s license, according to the status report.
As a corrective action, the charges involving a man in the ice detainee have been dismissed in state court, and prosecutors have said they have filed an allegation granted to void RJ Larizza, the state attorney of jurisdiction over St. John’s County.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law in February as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Immigration rights groups filed a lawsuit on behalf of two Florida-based immigrants shortly after the bill was signed into law. The lawsuit said the new law violates the hegemony clause of the US Constitution by infringing federal obligations.
Williams issued a temporary restraining order and injunction in April that banned the enforcement of new statewide laws. The Attorney General’s Office then failed to petition the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to override the decision. Uthmeier also petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court without success in considering the case.
After Williams issued the original order, Usmeyer sent a note to state and local law enforcement officials who have ordered them to refrain from enforcing the law despite opposing the injunction. But five days later he sent a note saying that the judge was legally wrong and could not prevent police and deputies from enforcing the law.
The judge discovered last month that Uthmeier was civilly contemplating her sentence.
In addition to defending the new law, Florida officials have helped Trump crack down on immigrants with the construction of a new immigration detention center called “Alligator Alcatraz” on the isolated runway in the Florida Everglades. Desantis said at a press conference Wednesday that a request for a proposal for a second immigration detention facility at Camp Blanding in northeast Florida has been developed, but work has not begun.
Alligator Alcatraz said in Tampa that he “growed quickly” but was not the 3,000-4,000 detainees originally envisaged.
“When the crocodile Alcatraz is filled, I am willing to display it pale,” the governor said. “Once there’s a demand, you can go to camp branding.”
Associated Press journalist Kurt Anderson was instrumental in the report by Kurt Anderson of St. Petersburg, Florida.
