A federal judge warned Florida officials that they could be committing "false imprisonment" if they don't stop arresting suspected unlawful migrants under a state law that has already been blocked under a court order, but they have continued to do so, at greater numbers than previously known.
According to a Huffington Post public records request, the Florida Highway Patrol "provided report numbers for 27 arrests between April 4 and May 26. That number does not represent the total number of SB-4C arrests in the state during that time, as the Florida Highway Patrol is just one of hundreds of law enforcement agencies that were authorized to make arrests under the immigration law. At least nine of the people arrested landed in immigration detention, the Tampa Bay Times previously reported."
SB-4C makes it a misdemeanor to enter the state without legal immigration status — one of the most dramatic state-level immigration enforcement regimes in the country, and already flagged as likely unlawful by federal courts, with U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams blocking the law on April 4.
During a hearing a few weeks later, "a lawyer representing the Florida attorney general’s office argued that the temporary restraining order only applied to the parties listed in the suit, not to individual law enforcement agencies." Williams said, “I am astounded and don’t understand this argument. When I issued the temporary restraining order, it never occurred to me that police officers would not be bound by it. It never occurred to me that the state attorneys would not give direction to law enforcement so that we would not have these unfortunate arrests.”
She added further arrests could constitute "false imprisonment."
At least one U.S. citizen was arrested under SB-4C, Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, who was stopped by highway patrol after driving into Florida from Georgia. This arrest took place after the initial order blocking the law.
Last month, an enraged Williams held Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt of court over the ongoing unlawful enforcement of SB-4C.