Appeals Court Reinstates Florida's Law Against Sanctuary Cities

In 2019, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that bans sanctuary cities and requires state officials to cooperate with the federal government in detaining undocumented immigrants. This law, known as SB 168, was recently reinstated in full by an appeals court.

A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta unanimously overturned a ruling issued by a lower court and dismissed the lawsuit because, according to the ruling, the plaintiffs lack "standing" to challenge the controversial law. The ruling comes at a time when the State Legislature is considering another strict bill that, if passed and signed into law, would make Florida the state with the toughest immigration law in the United States. SB 168 bans so-called "sanctuary policies" and requires local authorities to assist and cooperate with federal authorities in enforcing federal immigration law. The ruling, written by Chief Judge William Pryor, states that the case "concerns whether several organizations may sue the Governor and Attorney General of Florida in federal court to challenge a state law that requires local authorities (police and state, county, and municipal employees) to cooperate with federal immigration officials." In this regard, the ruling states that "state law provides that local officials must support the enforcement of federal immigration law and cooperate with federal immigration initiatives and officials, and that local officials may transport aliens subject to an immigration detainer to federal custody." In 2019, a group of organizations, including the Florida Immigrant Coalition and the Farmworker Association of Florida, along with religious leaders and attorneys, filed a lawsuit against the enforcement of Florida's SB 168 on grounds of "racial profiling discrimination" and "overreach of authority," among other arguments. A district court struck down parts of the law (including the transport of immigrants) to limit the state government's ability to detain and arrest undocumented immigrants. SB 168 took effect on July 1, 2019, and at the time became the toughest legislation of its kind in the country. Among other measures, it granted extraordinary powers to local law enforcement, including campus police, to request immigration documents, make arrests, and turn over undocumented immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for removal from the country. In addition to mandating cooperation with the federal government on immigration matters, SB 168 prohibited state and local entities from adopting any "sanctuary policy" (to protect undocumented immigrants). It defined a sanctuary policy as "a law, policy, practice, procedure, or custom... that prohibits or impedes a law enforcement agency from complying with certain federal initiatives and cooperating with federal immigration officials regarding access to detainees and detainers." The reasoning behind the ruling notes that the transport provision established in SB 168 "authorizes law enforcement officers to safely transport an alien who is in their custody and subject to an immigration detainer to a federal facility," a situation that has once again raised alarm within the immigrant community. SB 168 also allows the Governor and Attorney General of Florida to sue state and local officials to enjoin violations of the law and curb its scope and enforcement. Court documents indicate that the plaintiffs challenging SB 168 -nonprofit organizations dedicated to defending immigrants' rights- filed a lawsuit to bar the Governor and Attorney General from enforcing the law passed by the State Legislature. "The plaintiffs argued that both the best-efforts requirement and the sanctuary provision were unconstitutional because they violated the Equal Protection Clause protected by the Constitution," and added that these provisions were enacted with deliberate discriminatory intent even though they appear neutral on their face. The organizations argued that these provisions would have a disparate impact on their members because local law enforcement would racially profile minorities when enforcing federal law. The organizations also argued that federal law preempted the transport provision. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals noted that the plaintiffs had requested a preliminary injunction and that the district court had ruled that the organizations had established standing to bring an equal protection claim on their own behalf and on behalf of their members. Now, in a unanimous decision, the panel of judges from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the district court's ruling against the Governor and Attorney General of Florida. This decision gives DeSantis a major victory in establishing his tough immigration policy, similar to former President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy.