City of S. Miami v. Desantis
Decision Date | 12 December 2019 |
Docket Number | Case No. 19-cv-22927-BLOOM/Louis |
Citation | 424 F.Supp.3d 1309 |
Parties | CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Ron DESANTIS, et al., Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida |
Alana J. Greer, Florida Legal Services, Inc., Oscar Hernan Londono, Community Justice Project, Inc., Mich Gonzalez, Michelle P. Gonzalez, Pro Hac Vice; Paul R. Chavez, Pro Hac Vice; Victoria Mesa-Estrada, Anne Janet Hernandez Anderson, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Miami, FL, Rebecca Ann Sharpless, University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, FL, for Plaintiffs.
James Percival, Edward Mark Wenger, Barbara Jean Throne, Office of the Attorney General State of Florida, Colleen Maher Ernst, Tallahassee, FL, for Defendants.
THIS CAUSE is before the Court on Defendants'1 Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint, ECF No. [52] ("Motion"). Plaintiffs2 filed a Response in Opposition to the Motion, ECF No. [59] ("Response"), to which Defendants filed a Reply, ECF No. [62] ("Reply"). The Court has carefully considered the Motion, all opposing and supporting submissions, the record in this case, the applicable law, and is otherwise fully advised. For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' Motion is granted in part and denied in part.
On May 2, 2019, the Florida legislature passed Senate Bill 168 ("SB 168"), which aimed to further the State of Florida's interest in "cooperat[ing] and assist[ing] the federal government in the enforcement of federal immigration laws within this state." Fla. Stat. § 908.101 (2019). The law was adapted from a model law originally drafted by organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center to be hate groups, based on their anti-immigrant platforms. ECF No. [38] at 26. Moreover, SB 168 was described by its sponsors as an "anti-sanctuary cities law." Id. at 26, 27. On June 14, 2019, Governor DeSantis signed SB 168 into law, and it was enacted as Chapter 908 of the Florida Statutes. See Fla. Stat. ch. 908. Among other things, SB 168 prohibits so-called "sanctuary policies" that indicate certain jurisdictions' intent not to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE"). The law delineates specific immigration enforcement efforts with which local jurisdictions must comply. These include complying with immigration detainers and transporting aliens to federal facilities. See Fla. Stat. § 908.105 ; Fla. Stat. § 908.104(4). Moreover, the Attorney General and the Governor are vested with enforcement authority to seek injunctive relief or to exercise the Governor's suspension power, should a government official fail to comply with the law's mandates. Fla. Stat. See Fla. Stat. § 908.107. This enforcement provision took effect on October 1, 2019.
Plaintiffs seek injunctive and declaratory relief, challenging the constitutionality of numerous provisions of SB 168. ECF No. [38] at 3 ("Amended Complaint").
The provisions of SB 168 that are being challenged are reproduced in full below. Any supplemental provisions that are relevant to the Court's analysis are also set forth below.
SB 168 sets forth the definition of certain terms used within the statute in § 908.102. Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint specifically challenges the definition of "sanctuary policy" ("Sanctuary Definition") under § 908.102(6).
Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
Fla. Stat. § 908.102.
Based on § 908.102(6)'s Sanctuary Definition, § 908.103 states, "Sanctuary policies prohibited.—A state entity, law enforcement agency, or local governmental entity may not adopt or have in effect a sanctuary policy." Fla. Stat. § 908.103 ("Sanctuary Prohibition").3
The requirement that state and local law enforcement agencies cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts, § 908.104, states:
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