Florida’s government is ignoring and continuing to arrest migrants under its controversial SB 4-C law, one of the harshest in the country because it criminalizes undocumented immigrants at the state level, despite a U.S. Supreme Court order in July that kept it suspended, according to court documents.
State Attorney General James Uthmeier acknowledged in a report he must submit to the Southern District Court of Florida that state authorities arrested two migrants under SB 4-C in July: Guatemalan Juan Vásquez Salas and Mexican José Bersay Díaz Salas.
Police arrested Díaz Salas on July 3 after a crash that injured people and damaged three vehicles in Sarasota County, in southwest Florida, where they later detained Vásquez Salas on July 28 following a traffic incident.
The arrests occur despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s order on July 9 upholding the Southern District of Florida’s ruling from April 18 that temporarily suspended enforcement of SB 4-C, which makes undocumented entry a state crime, allowing for imprisonment.
Additionally, Judge Kathleen M. Williams held Florida’s attorney general in contempt for defying her order to halt enforcement of SB 4-C and required him to submit periodic reports on the number of people arrested under the law, which was pushed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
After its passage in February, the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), the Farmworker Association of Florida (FWAF), and affected individuals filed a lawsuit against the law, which they argue is unconstitutional because immigration policy falls under federal jurisdiction.
These organizations accused Florida’s government in a new court filing last week of using SB 4-C to detain migrants at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ (‘Alligator Alcatraz’), the 2,000-person immigration detention center that opened on July 3 west of Miami.
As a result, the plaintiffs demanded the Southern District Court of Florida compel the state government to clarify under what authority it is operating ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ since an email from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) states this is the responsibility of Florida authorities.
SB 4-C has become a symbol of Republican-led states’ fight against irregular migration, as other states have sought to replicate it, meaning the final court decision on this issue will have national implications.
Image: DiarioNY
