{"id":2448768,"date":"2025-06-18T08:37:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T12:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-holds-florida-attorney-general-james-uthmeier-in-contempt-over-immigration-law-guidance\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T08:38:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T12:38:15","slug":"judge-holds-florida-attorney-general-james-uthmeier-in-contempt-over-immigration-law-guidance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-holds-florida-attorney-general-james-uthmeier-in-contempt-over-immigration-law-guidance\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge holds Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt over immigration law guidance"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjudge-holds-florida-attorney-general-james-uthmeier-in-contempt-over-immigration-law-guidance%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2448768&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sidney-powell-is-an-american-legal-giant\/\" title=\"Sidney Powell Is an American Legal Giant\">federal judge<\/a>, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, has held Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt of court for violating a previous order regarding a new immigration law. The contempt arose after Uthmeier sent a letter to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >law enforcement suggesting<\/a> that they were not strictly bound by the court&#8217;s order to refrain from enforcing the new law, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gov-abbott-signs-bill-making-illegal-immigration-in-texas-a-state-crime\/\" title=\"Gov. Abbott makes ... a state crime in Texas\">criminalizes illegal immigration<\/a>. Judge Williams found that Uthmeier&#8217;s actions contradicted her clear directive, stating that litigants cannot manipulate the meaning of a court order. in response, Uthmeier claimed he would rather be held in contempt than abandon what he sees as a defense of the rule of law and adherence to former President Trump&#8217;s immigration agenda. the controversy began when Governor Ron DeSantis signed the immigration law, which was quickly halted by Williams through a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-georgia-update-judge-issues-restraining-order-for-10-days-preventing-defendants-from-destroying-or-erasing-dominion-voting-machines\/\" title=\"BREAKING GEORGIA UPDATE: ... Issues Restraining ... for 10 Days ...ing Defendants from Destroying or Erasing Dominion Voting Machines\">temporary restraining order<\/a>. Uthmeier&#8217;s subsequent communications led to the court&#8217;s decision to hold him in contempt and require him to submit biweekly compliance reports.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Judge holds Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt over immigration law guidance<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2143878\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A federal judge held Florida <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/attorney-generals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Attorney General<\/a> James Uthmeier in civil contempt for sending a letter to local <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/police\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">police<\/a> suggesting he couldn&rsquo;t prevent them from disobeying her order pausing a new immigration law.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams<a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.flsd.686918\/gov.uscourts.flsd.686918.96.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> ruled<\/a> on Tuesday that the letter violated her order, leading Florida&rsquo;s top prosecutor to<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AGJamesUthmeier\/status\/1935083558584131795\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> respond<\/a> that &ldquo;if being held in contempt is what it costs to defend the rule of law and stand firmly behind President Trump&rsquo;s agenda on illegal immigration, so be it.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3444804\/la-riots-charges-protesters-arson-assault-nathan-hochman\/\">California officials charge LA anti-ICE rioters over protest violence<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3444746\/salena-zito-suggests-recent-attacks-are-unhinged-not-political\/\">Salena Zito suggests recent attacks are &#8216;unhinged from reality,&#8217; not political<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3444769\/pennsylvania-man-pipe-bombs-home-no-kings-protest\/\">Police find seven pipe bombs in home of man arrested near &#8216;No Kings&#8217; protest<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>In her decision, Williams wrote that Uthmeier offered &ldquo;a series of implausible interpretations of the language he used&rdquo; to argue he was complying with the order.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Litigants cannot change the plain meaning of words as it suits them, especially when conveying a court&rsquo;s clear and unambiguous order,&rdquo; Williams wrote, ordering Uthmeier to file biweekly reports proving he is complying with her order, with the first being filed by July 1.<\/p>\n<p>Williams has also cited Uthmeier&rsquo;s remarks on the matter to the press, referencing a May 6 interview, in which he said: &ldquo;This judge is considering whether or not to hold me in contempt. But I am not going to rubber-stamp her order. I&rsquo;m not going to direct law enforcement to stand down on enforcing the Trump agenda and carrying out Florida&rsquo;s law. &hellip; I&rsquo;m not going to bow down.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If being held in contempt is what it costs to defend the rule of law and stand firmly behind President Trump&#8217;s agenda on illegal immigration, so be it. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PPrFEapaKv\">https:\/\/t.co\/PPrFEapaKv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AGJamesUthmeier\/status\/1935083558584131795?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3396383\/florida-attorney-general-judge-shocked-ignored-order-immigration-law-pause\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">debacle started in February<\/a> when Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed a bill into law that made it a misdemeanor for illegal immigrants to enter the state as part of President Donald Trump&rsquo;s push to crack down on illegal immigration.<\/p>\n<p>Within weeks, Williams halted<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/3388578\/florida-attorney-general-justin-uthmeier-illegal-immigrants-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> enforcement of the law<\/a> by placing a temporary restraining order on the new measure on April 4. She extended the temporary restraining order again on April 18, directing Uthmeier to inform law enforcement that they could not enforce the law.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On April 18, Uthmeier complied with the judge&rsquo;s request, sending a memo to police agencies ordering officers to stop making arrests related to the law.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Days later, however, the Republican <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-ag-barr-authorizes-federal-prosecutors-to-pursue-substantial-allegations-of-voting-irregularities-before-2020-election-is-certified\/\" title=\"BREAKING: AG Barr Authorizes Federal Prosecutors to Pursue &quot;Substantial Allegations&quot; of Voting Irregularities Before 2020 Election is Certified\">attorney general<\/a> issued a second letter that kick-started the row with the courts. In the April 23 memo, Uthmeier wrote that he could not prevent police from enforcing the law, writing that &ldquo;no judicial order &hellip; properly restrains you from&rdquo; enforcing the immigration law, adding that &ldquo;no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes your agencies from continuing to enforce&rdquo; the statute. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Judge Williams ordered my office to notify you of the evolving scope of her order, and I did so,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;But I cannot prevent you from enforcing [the challenged laws], where there remains no judicial order that properly restrains you from doing so. As set forth in the brief my office filed today, it is my view that no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes your agencies from continuing to enforce Florida&rsquo;s new illegal entry and reentry laws.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Williams responded to the second letter by ordering the attorney general on April 29 to show cause why her court should not hold him in contempt for violating her temporary restraining order.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks during a meeting between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Cabinet at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida, on March 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/3316532\/desantis-florida-legislature-deal-illegal-immigration-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DESANTIS AND FLORIDA LEGISLATURE COME TO DEAL ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LAWS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a court filing responding to the request last month, Uthmeier&rsquo;s lawyers argued that the attorney general was simply expressing his disagreement with Williams&rsquo;s decision in the letter and claimed the judge&rsquo;s interpretation of the memo &ldquo;relies on one portion of one sentence, rather than reading [the] letter as a whole.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>However, he was unable to provide convincing evidence to the judge, as demonstrated by Williams&rsquo;s Tuesday ruling holding him in contempt of the court.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2143878\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2143878\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal judge found Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt for suggesting local police could ignore her order halting a new immigration law<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2448769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/florida-james.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[32116,7074,5113,33810,57379],"class_list":["post-2448768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-attorney-general","tag-contempt","tag-florida","tag-immigration-law","tag-james-uthmeier"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/florida-james.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2448768"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2448772,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448768\/revisions\/2448772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2448769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2448768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2448768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2448768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}