Florida Immigrant Coalition v. Uthmeier

  • Court: U.S. District Court
  • Latest Update: Jun 06, 2025
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Summary

The ACLU of Florida and partners filed a lawsuit on April 2, 2025, challenging Florida’s new anti-immigrant law, Senate Bill 4C (SB 4C), which authorizes state and local law enforcement to imprison people based on their manner of entering the country — powers the Constitution reserves exclusively to the federal government. The district court granted a temporary restraining order against the law on April 4.

Certain individuals were arrested after the issuance of the TRO, and on April 18, the district court extended the TRO, explicitly including within its scope law enforcement that had the power to enforce SB 4C, and directed the Attorney General to notify those entities of the injunction.

On April 29, the court granted a preliminary injunction and certified a class. Both the Eleventh Circuit and Supreme Court denied the state’s request to put the injunction on hold. Oral argument in the Eleventh Circuit is set for the week of October 6 in Atlanta. On June 17, the district court entered an order holding Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier in civil contempt for violating a notification requirement of the April 18 order. Uthmeier has appealed the order finding him in contempt.

 

WHAT'S AT STAKE

This novel law purports to give Florida state officials unprecedented power to arrest, detain, and prosecute noncitizens in the State of Florida. Under this novel system, the State of Florida has created its own immigration crimes, completely outside the federal immigration system. State police will arrest noncitizens for these entry and re-entry crimes; state prosecutors will bring charges in state courts; and state judges will determine guilt and impose sentences. The federal government has no control over, nor any role at all in, these arrests and prosecutions.

 

The latest: On April 29, 2025, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on Senate Bill 4-C and ruled that the law likely violates the U.S. Constitution — meaning the law is blocked for now, while the case continues in court.

Attorney(s):
Amy Godshall