Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier directed state law enforcement to stop arresting migrants under a controversial, recently-passed state law, after a federal judge who had already ordered the law expressed outrage that she was being ignored.
According to Fox News, Uthmeier's order "comes after U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said during a Friday hearing she was 'astounded' by the state’s decision to continue making arrests after she had issued a previous order directing officials to stop earlier this month."
The legislature passed the law, SB 4C, during a special session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year, as part of his bid to help then-incoming President Donald Trump round up unauthorized migrants for removal. The law makes it a first-degree misdemeanor to enter Florida as an "unauthorized alien."
ALSO READ: 'Dictatorship, not a town hall': Families 'distraught' as MTG disruptors tased and jailed
However, Williams ordered a pause on the law after it was used to jail a U.S.-born citizen, Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, in Leon County. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a 48-hour hold on him, even though a judge determined there was no probable cause for his arrest by the Florida Highway Patrol, and he was only released after his mother provided his birth documents.
At the time, Lopez-Gomez's arrest triggered national uproar.
“Where does the lawlessness of this administration stop? If this can happen to an American-born citizen, it can happen to any of us,” stated Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried.
An attorney representing the plaintiffs suing Florida over the law had also warned the state was likely going to defy the directive to stop the migrant arrests: “We appreciate that the federal courts have seen through this blatantly unconstitutional law, but the reality is that, without enforcement, it seems that local law enforcement and Florida Highway Patrol are continuing to ignore the judge and order.”