Immigrant-rights groups have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Florida’s new law targeting undocumented immigrants, arguing that it unlawfully interferes with federal immigration authority.
The Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida, and two individual plaintiffs filed the potential class-action lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Miami. The legal challenge takes aim at Senate Bill 4-C (SB 4-C), which was passed during a February special legislative session.
Signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis on February 13, SB 4-C immediately criminalized new immigration-related offenses under state law, punishing individuals 18 or older with mandatory incarceration for “illegal entry” or “illegal reentry” into Florida—even if they are pursuing federal immigration relief that allows them to lawfully remain in the country, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“A novel system” of state immigration crimes
“Under this novel system, the state of Florida has created its own immigration crimes, completely outside the federal immigration system,” attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Americans for Immigrant Justice wrote in the lawsuit.
“State police will arrest noncitizens for these entry and re-entry crimes; state prosecutors will bring charges in state courts; and state judges will determine guilt and impose sentences. The federal government has no control over, nor any role at all in, these arrests and prosecutions.”
The lawsuit further argues that the law violates the Constitution’s Commerce Clause by placing “unacceptable burdens on interstate and foreign commerce” and impermissibly regulating people’s entry into Florida.
The February special session that led to SB 4-C was part of Republican lawmakers’ and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to align Florida’s policies with President Donald Trump’s immigration stance. The law being challenged is one of two immigration-related bills passed during the session.
ACLU of Florida calls law “cruel and dangerous”
“Florida’s SB 4C is not just unconstitutional — it’s cruel and dangerous,” Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, said in a statement.
“This law strips power from the federal government and hands it to state officers with no immigration training or authority, threatening to tear families apart and detain people who have every legal right to be here,” Jackson added. “Our communities deserve safety, dignity, and due process — not politically motivated attacks.”
The lawsuit seeks to block the enforcement of SB 4-C, arguing that immigration enforcement should remain solely in the hands of federal authorities.
