The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to stay a lower court’s decision blocking enforcement of a discriminatory law targeting immigrants for arrest and detention
MIAMI, FL – Today, an appellate federal court refused to stay the trial court’s order blocking Florida Senate Bill 4-C (SB 4-C), an anti-immigrant law that criminalizes the movement of undocumented individuals into the state. Police made a number of arrests under the law, including arresting a U.S. citizen. Today’s decision extends a long and unbroken string of defeats that the courts have dealt to SB 4-C and similar laws in Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Iowa. This now includes appellate decisions from the Fifth, Eighth, and Eleventh Circuits.
The original challenge was brought on behalf of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida, and several impacted individuals on behalf of a class of all people subject to the law. The federal district court issued a preliminary injunction against the law in April. In response, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court to put the order on hold. The unanimous three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit has now refused, and the law will remain barred while the case continues.
The court explained that “[i]t seems likely—given the federal government’s longstanding and distinct interest in” immigration and Congress’ “extensive regulation” in this area, that the Florida statute is preempted by federal law.
The court also cited Attorney General Uthmeier’s troubling letter that had encouraged law enforcement officers to violate the district court’s injunction, which was recently the subject of a hearing in district court to consider possible contempt-of-court findings and sanctions. The court refused to block the application of the injunction to police, and criticized Uthmeier’s “seemingly defiant posture vis-à-vis the district court” and “what seems to have been at least a veiled threat not to obey” the court’s order.
“The Eleventh Circuit now joins every single court to have looked at these laws in blocking them,” said Cody Wofsy, Deputy at the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. “It is time for States to get the message: State immigration laws are unconstitutional.”
“This ruling is not just a legal victory — it’s a resounding rejection of cruelty masquerading as policy,” said Bacardi Jackson, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida. “Florida lawmakers tried to use fear as law and racial profiling as governance. SB 4-C was a flagrant abuse of power designed to punish immigrants and divide our communities. But the Constitution does not bend to political theater. This decision is a reminder that no matter how many times they try to turn back the clock on justice, we will meet them in court and in the streets — every single time. Our message is simple: immigrants belong, and we will never stop fighting for their freedom and dignity.”
SB 4-C made it a felony for certain immigrants to enter Florida and mandated pretrial detention without bond. The law created new state crimes that plaintiffs argued were preempted by federal immigration law and infringed on the constitutional right to move freely across state lines.
While this ruling is not the end of the fight against this illegal state law, it will prevent state authorities from targeting neighbors across Florida with cruel punishments they would not face under federal law in the meantime.
“The court's injunction protects our clients and countless others across Florida from arrest and detention under this cruel and unlawful law,” said Paul R. Chavez, Director of Litigation & Advocacy at Americans for Immigrant Justice. “SB 4-C punished people simply for existing. Today, the Constitution prevailed."
Read the court’s order here.
