Several groups file lawsuit to challenge ‘sanctuary cities’ ban
Central Florida immigrant rights groups among plaintiffs listed in federal case
Central Florida immigrant rights groups are among plaintiffs that filed a federal court challenge Tuesday to the state’s so-called sanctuary cities bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last month.
The law, which went into effect July 1, bans “sanctuary” polices that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation and requires state, county and city agencies to “use their best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law.”
Florida has no sanctuary jurisdictions.
Surrounded by children carrying butterfly signs, state Reps. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Anna Eskamani, both Orlando Democrats, voiced support for the lawsuit at a news conference at the Hope CommUnity Center.
“The law is a dangerous implementation of the ‘go back to your country’ attitude promoted by this [Trump] administration,” Smith said. “The attitude of those who support this law is that somehow things will be better if we doubledown on a broken immigration system.”
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the federal court’s Southern District of Florida, is led by several plaintiffs including the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Apopka-based Hope CommUnity Center, Farmworker Association of Florida, QLatinx in Orlando and the city of South Miami.
Implementing a sanctuary cities ban was one of DeSantis’ key campaign promises on the premise of increasing pubic safety. DeSantis and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody were named as defendants in their official capacity.
“The DeSantis administration looks forward to vigorously defending this law in court,” Helen Aguirre Ferre, a spokeswoman for the governor, said in an email.
Law-enforcement agencies must comply with U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention requests, which the lawsuit contends is a violation of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
The law “takes away the authority of local governments to create and maintain polices that are in their community’s best interest,” said AJ Hernandez Anderson, an attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is representing the plaintiffs.
The court challenge comes amid looming threats of mass deportation raids by ICE. A planned operation targeting undocumented immigrants in South Florida and other communities nationwide didn’t materialize this weekend, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Immigration-rights advocates say the law creates distrust between immigrant communities and local law-enforcement agencies, promotes racial profiling and can lead to deportation after minor offenses such as traffic violations.
“Diverting local resources to target Florida families for separation and deportation comes at an extremely high financial and moral costs,” said Isabel Vinent, interim executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “The attacks on the
national level are being amplified on a statewide level in Florida.”
President Donald Trump has made banning so-called sanctuary cities a priority in a crackdown on illegal immigration. His administration’s efforts to cut off federal funding to those deemed as sanctuary cities have been challenged in multiple court cases.
As of June, 30 states have pending legislation related to sanctuary jurisdictions or noncompliance with immigration detainment requests, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. Have a news tip? Contact: lgarza@orlandosentinel.com; 407-420-5354; @LMariaGarza.