The Florida immigration law that is the model for Jacksonville’s own local law met another setback when the U.S. Supreme Court refused July 9 to let the state arrest undocumented immigrants entering Florida while a court case proceeds over the state law.
In April, Jacksonville was the first city in the nation to enact a law that makes it a crime with jail sentences for someone to enter or reside in the city while being in the country illegally.
The city’s law mirrors a state law enacted earlier this year. Jacksonville’s law has not triggered a lawsuit, but attorneys in the city’s Office of General Counsel have said the “federal court’s analysis of the state law would equally apply to the city’s ordinance.”
So far, those court rulings have gone against the state law.
City Council member Rahman Johnson, who voted against the legislation creating the city law, said the courts are confirming what opponents said about the city overreaching into an area controlled by the federal government.
“This just upholds what we said from the beginning,” Johnson said. “Specifically and unequivocally, immigration remains a jurisdiction of the federal government. When you start going in other people’s playground playing around, you’re going to get hurt and this is one of those things that got us hurt.”
After U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a preliminary injunction in May blocking the Florida law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit agreed in June the federal government’s “longstanding and distinct interest” in controlling immigration would likely prevent a state from creating its own immigration laws.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier then filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. The court turned down that appeal and left in place the preliminary injunction while the case continues to be litigated in Williams’ courtroom.
Uthmeier, backed by President Donald Trump’s administration and 17 other states, argued to the Supreme Court the state law helps protect Florida residents from a “deluge of illegal immigration.”
Attorneys for immigrant rights groups suing the state said longstanding court rulings give the federal government exclusive control of immigration.
While no one has sued the city over its law, the Office of General Counsel advised the Sheriff’s Office in May it should hold off on enforcing the city’s law while a judge’s order is blocking enforcement of the state law.
Sheriff T.K.. Waters said in early June the Office of General Counsel’s guidance is “merely advice” and the Sheriff’s Office continues to “follow state and municipal law.”
The Sheriff’s Office had not made any arrests using the city law.
The Office of General Counsel guidance said the Sheriff’s Office should continue to work with the federal government in enforcing federal immigration law.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: U.S. Supreme Court rejects Florida’s appeal over immigration law Jacksonville used as model
Reporting by David Bauerlein, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
