A Federal Judge issues an order on immigration enforcement in Florida that contradicts Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, and lawmakers in Tallahassee prepare to not pass a budget on time.
A Federal Judge takes on Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier
A federal judge in Miami ruled yesterday that a court order halting the enforcement of a new state immigration law does apply to all local law enforcement agencies.
The decision contradicts guidance issued by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
The law, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis back in February, made it a misdemeanor crime for any undocumented person to enter the state by eluding immigration officials.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued an injunction against the enforcement of that law.
Williams’ order prohibits any law enforcement officer from enforcing SB 4-C, and also blocks any charges from being filed under that law.
It also orders Uthmeier to “show cause” by May 13 about, “Why he should not be held in contempt or sanctioned for violating this court’s TRO, through sending his April 23, 2025 letter to law enforcement agencies in Florida advising them, in part, that ‘no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes agencies from continuing to enforce the law.”
A show cause hearing is scheduled for May 29.
Clock ticking on budget deadline for state lawmakers
The last day of the state legislative session is two days away, but it likely will not end on time because of the ongoing back and forth over the state budget.
And lawmakers are still making their way through bills up for consideration.
On Wednesday, lawmakers will discuss a bill that would enhance school safety. It’s sponsored by Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills.
It would require school security guards to be approved by a sheriff.
The house will also discuss a bill that would allow grant funds to be used for screenings and treatment referrals for kids with autism.
And another bill would ban attempts to change weather or climate.
As lawmakers continue those discussions, both the House and Senate have not agreed on a state budget to send to the governor.
Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke about the state budget during a press conference on Wednesday, where he confirmed the budget would not arrive on time.
"You are not going to see a budget passed by the end of session, which is Friday," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday. "They just don’t have enough time to do it. I’ll leave it to the leaders of the House and Senate to provide the update on where they are, but my sense it they haven’t been close to doing it."
“This will be the first time that we may not have a budget, I mean, they’ve been late a couple days in the past since I’ve been governor. The last two years I know they were out an noon on Friday, and they got it done. That’s not gonna happen. There will not be a budget passed in the legislature when the legislative session expires on Friday. How that then gets resolved, we will work through it."
The sticking point is how to give Floridians tax relief.
The House and Senate proposals have a $4.4 billion gap to figure out.
The House wants a permanent sales tax cut from 6% to 5-1/4%.
The Senate is in favor of eliminating sales tax on items less than $75.
Meanwhile, the governor supports a plan to hand out $1,000 property tax rebates to Florida homeowners.
Rubio, Bondi discuss immigration in White House Cabinet meeting
As President Donald Trump continues to tout his administration’s activity in its first 100 days, the president convened his cabinet for another meeting Wednesday morning.
During that meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked about reports that he has been in contact with El Salvador’s leader about facilitating the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man, who was deported to El Salvador.
“I would never tell you that, and you know who else I’ll never tell? A judge. Because the conduct of our foreign policy belongs to the president of the U.S. And the executive branch, not some judge. So, we will conduct foreign policy appropriately if we need to, but I’ll never discuss it. And no one will ever make us discuss it because that’s how foreign policy works,” Rubio said about the conversation.
The Trump administration has said Abrego Garcia was deported to because of an administrative error, but they say he is a member of the gang MS13, a claim he and his attorneys have denied.
Last week, Rep. Maxwell Frost and three other democratic lawmakers traveled to El Salvador to meet with Abrego Garcia, only to be denied access to him.
The Supreme Court has said the administration must attempt to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. but officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi have said he should not be brought back into the country, and that if he was returned, he would simply be deported again.
During that same cabinet meeting, Bondi addressed the numerous legal challenges facing Trump administration policies.
“Your directive to me was very simple. Make America safe. And despite that, we’ve still been defending over 200 civil lawsuits filed against you, on top of everything else. I think I’m representing every one of you in this room in some capacity. And no, you will not be arrested by the U.S. marshals. Over 200 lawsuits, over 50 injunctions, and now we have got multiple cases in front of the Supreme Court. And we will succeed, and we are doing great in front of the Supreme Court, president, and we will continue on with that,” Bondi said.