Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday called a federal judge an “activist” for blocking the enforcement of a new state law that makes it a crime for immigrants to come into Florida after they entered the country illegally.
“Another day, another activist federal judge thinking the judiciary should be setting immigration policy rather than the elected officials,” the Republican governor said in a video posted on X on Monday.
The governor did not single out the judge by name, but his comments were in response to a ruling issued by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams on Friday that blocked prosecutors and police from enforcing the new state law for 14 days. In the ruling, Williams — appointed by former President Barack Obama — said the law was likely unconstitutional because it seeks to enforce an issue that is exclusively reserved for the federal government.
DeSantis said he was not surprised by the ruling, which he said the state will be appealing. He said his office and the state lawmakers were very “careful” in how they crafted the law to ensure it would stand up to “fair-minded” judges. The governor said he believes the case could go all the way up to the Supreme Court.
“The reality is that we have a right to be able under our state constitution and our state police powers to be able to hold people accountable who come into this state illegally and are violating the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.
In her ruling, the judge said that Florida’s law “appears to suffer from the same infirmities” as other state laws that sought to give state officials the authority to prosecute immigration cases related to immigrants entering the country illegally.
“In short, for nearly 150 years, the Supreme Court has held that the power to control immigration — the entry, admission, and removal of noncitizens — is exclusively a federal power,” Williams, of the Miami-based U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, wrote.
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by two immigrants who live in Florida and say they came into the country illegally. One of them was previously deported and has four children who were born in the United States, according to court records. The other travels out of Florida twice a year with her U.S.-born child who has a disability. The individuals are members of the Florida Immigrant Coalition and the Farmworker Association of Florida, two advocacy groups that are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The suit argues that if the state law is enforced the individuals will “suffer irreparable harm by being placed at risk of arrest, prosecution, and detention under an unconstitutional state statute.” In the ruling, Williams noted Florida police officers have already started enforcing the law and making arrests.
To be charged with the new crime, an individual would need to be at least 18 years of age and law enforcement would need to prove that the person “knowingly” entered or attempted to enter Florida “after entering the United States by eluding or avoiding examination or inspection by immigration officers.”
If convicted, a violator would face a mandatory sentence of at least nine months behind bars.
DeSantis said Monday the arrests that have been made “were proper” and that he believes the law is constitutional. The governor also said the state would continue to work with the federal government to help identify and deport immigrants who are in the country illegally.
“Make no mistake about it, we are not taking the pedal off the gas one bit when it comes to enforcing federal immigration laws,” DeSantis said.
The judge called a preliminary injunction hearing for April 18 to consider the next steps in the case.
