Navigation 11th Circuit reverses ban on sanctuary policies benefiting immigrants
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals found that several immigrant rights organizations who sued Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody over local law enforcement cooperating with federal immigration officials lack standing.
The underlying lawsuit, filed by the City of South Miami, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida, the Family Action Network Movement, Qlatinx, and WeCount, challenged the 2019 approval of Senate Bill 168 by state lawmakers, which prohibits sanctuary policies and requires police to help federal authorities enforce federal immigration law.
“The organizations have not established a cognizable injury and cannot spend their way into standing without an impending threat that the provisions will cause actual harm,” the April 13 opinion states. “Moreover, the organizations’ alleged injury is neither traceable to the governor or attorney general nor redressable by a judgment against them because they do not enforce the challenged provisions. Instead, local officials, based on the state law, must comply with federal immigration law.”
