Federal judge slaps Florida Attorney General with contempt ruling over immigration law

A federal judge in Miami has found Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt of court for continuing to enforce a blocked immigration law and publicly boasting about doing so.

The ruling, issued Tuesday, June 18, 2025, by District Court Judge Kathleen Williams, sharply criticized Uthmeier for ignoring her earlier order and misrepresenting its scope.

Judge Williams, appointed by President Barack Obama, had previously issued a temporary injunction in April halting the enforcement of a state law that made it a criminal offense for undocumented immigrants to enter Florida.

Despite the order, Uthmeier, a Republican and close ally of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, instructed law enforcement agencies to continue enforcing the law, claiming the injunction did not apply to any specific agency.

In her strongly worded decision, Williams said Uthmeier had willfully misinterpreted her directive and demonstrated a disregard for judicial authority.

“Respect for the integrity of court orders is of paramount importance,” she wrote, accusing Uthmeier of a “systemic defiance” of the court’s authority.

Uthmeier’s defiance included telling law enforcement in a letter that the court’s ruling did not legally prevent them from continuing to arrest individuals under the new law.

“It is my view that no lawful, legitimate order currently impedes your agencies from continuing to enforce Florida’s new illegal entry and reentry laws,” he wrote, despite the judge’s explicit order to halt enforcement.

According to a Tampa Bay Times analysis, at least 25 people were arrested under the law after the injunction was issued, many of whom were transferred into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

To emphasize the absurdity of Uthmeier’s interpretation, Williams quoted from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, invoking the character Humpty Dumpty:

“‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.’”

She countered, “‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

The answer then, as now, is no.”

She stressed that legal language cannot be twisted at will and insisted that the rule of law requires adherence to the plain meaning of judicial instructions.

As part of the contempt ruling, Uthmeier is now required to submit bi-weekly reports detailing any additional arrests or detentions made in defiance of the court’s injunction.

Uthmeier, while refraining from labeling Williams an “activist judge”, a term often used by Republicans facing legal defeats, publicly declared his intention to resist her order.

In a May 6 interview cited in the ruling, he said, “I’m not going to bow down… I’m not going to rubber stamp her order, I’m not going to direct law enforcement to stand down.”

In another interview two days later, he reiterated, “She’s issuing this order and saying you gotta tell them all to stand down.

“I’m not gonna do that.”

Judge Williams made clear that while she was unfazed by Uthmeier’s public criticism, defying a court order crosses a legal line.

“Uthmeier is free to publicly challenge the court’s ruling or continue appealing the injunction,” she wrote, “but he cannot mislead law enforcement or instruct them to ignore a lawful order.”

In response to the contempt ruling, Uthmeier posted a defiant tweet Tuesday night, stating:

“If being held in contempt is what it costs to defend the rule of law and stand firmly behind President Trump’s agenda on illegal immigration, so be it.”

The Guardian reported it had reached out to Uthmeier’s office for further comment.

Governor DeSantis had appointed Uthmeier as attorney general in February following the resignation of Ashley Moody.

Moody was selected by DeSantis to fill the U.S. Senate seat left by Marco Rubio, after Trump reportedly chose Rubio to serve as secretary of state.

On Monday, Judge Williams denied Uthmeier’s request to pause her injunction while his appeal is pending, concluding the law is likely unconstitutional.

An appeals court had already rejected a similar request earlier this month.

It stated that Uthmeier had not shown a strong likelihood of success and expressing concern about his defiant behavior toward the lower court’s order.

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