Federal judge temporarily blocks part of DeSantis immigration law
A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily suspended enforcement of a Florida law that criminalizes transporting illegal immigrants into the state.
The law, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in 2023, partially modifies human trafficking statutes to make it a felony to bring people without legal immigration status to Florida.
U.S. District Judge Roy Altman issued a temporary injunction against that provision, citing testimony from the plaintiffs in his decision that they “were now too afraid to travel in and out of Florida with their undocumented friends or family – for fear of being arrested.” or prosecuted or for their relatives to be deported.
Altman, who was appointed by former President Trump, blocked the law as a lawsuit filed by the Florida Farm Workers Association and several people who say they were affected makes its way through the courts.
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DeSantis has staunchly opposed illegal immigration as an unsuccessful Republican presidential candidate in 2024 and as governor of Florida. Last month, his administration scored a victory after another judge removed him and members of his staff from a lawsuit against coordinated flights of illegal immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022.
The 2023 immigration law that DeSantis signed funds the migrant transportation program, restricts access to identification cards and requires more companies to use E-Verify, a federal system that determines whether employees can legally work in the US. USA
The lawsuit only challenged the provision related to the transportation of migrants.
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DeSantis’ office and the farmworker group behind the lawsuit did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Republicans are taking strong stands against the increase in illegal border crossings seen under the administration of President Biden, a Democrat, as the November election approaches. There was a historic 2.4 million encounters with immigrants in FY23, and that mark could be surpassed in FY24, although monthly numbers have declined, according to the latest figures from the Department of Homeland Security.
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The Republican Party has blamed Biden’s policies for the border crisis, and Republican-controlled legislatures in Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma, as well as Florida, have passed laws allowing local officials to enforce immigration laws.
The Biden administration and immigrant rights groups have tried to block those laws, arguing they override the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration law.
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Civil rights groups say Florida’s ban on transporting immigrants will put thousands of people, including many U.S. citizens, at risk of arrest for simple acts like taking a family member to a doctor’s appointment or going on a family vacation. .
In his ruling Wednesday, Altman said the law is likely unconstitutional because it “extends beyond the state’s authority to make arrests for violations of federal immigration law and, in doing so, intrudes upon territory over which “appropriates” the federal government.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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