“What I am offended by is someone suggesting you don’t have to follow my order, that it’s not legitimate,” Williams said.

She told state attorneys that she would issue a preliminary injunction against the law, which was passed in February.

Williams extended her temporary order by 11 days after hearing that about 15 people, one of whom is a U.S. citizen, were arrested.

Williams said in an order on Tuesday night that Uthmeier will have to prove why he shouldn’t face legal consequences for his letter. In the letter, he told local police that he couldn’t stop them from enforcing misdemeanor penalties against suspects accused of entering Florida as “unauthorized aliens.” 

She said a court hearing has been scheduled for May 29 to discuss any contempt sanctions against the attorney general.

“Even prior to any formal discovery, there is evidence that AG Uthmeier has used his authority to encourage local law enforcement to continue making arrests under a law the Court has, for the time being, found unconstitutional,” Williams said.

Uthmeier originally sent a memo ordering officers to stop making arrests related to the law before issuing the second memo reversing his position. Despite the second memo, no additional arrests have been reported since Uthmeier issued it.

Williams expressed her frustration over Uthmeier’s second memo, asking if she needed to “put a ribbon on it” to solidify its legitimacy.

Acting Florida Solicitor General Jeffrey DeSousa told the judge that Uthmeier’s letter explained the position the defendants are arguing in court, rather than an invitation to disobey the temporary block on the law. He also said the plaintiffs should have sued the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, sheriffs, and police chiefs.

The state’s attorneys asked on Wednesday to pause the suspension of the law.

“The State would suffer the sovereign harm of having one of its laws enjoined, while continuing to suffer from the effects of illegal immigration,” the defendants’ attorneys said in a motion. “Meanwhile, the individual Plaintiffs continue with their violations of federal and state law, and the organizational Plaintiffs seek to further that unlawfulness.”

DESANTIS AND FLORIDA LEGISLATURE COME TO DEAL ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LAWS

Williams denied the position by the defense that Uthmeier doesn’t exert influence over criminal enforcement efforts.

“Those statements by the party Defendant support a conclusion that he exerts a measure of control over state and local law enforcement agencies’ criminal enforcement efforts, including those related to immigration,” Williams said in an order.