USCA11 Case: 21-13657 Document: 85-1 Date Filed: 04/13/2023 Page: 1 of 33 [PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 21-13657 ____________________ CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, Plaintiff-Appellee, FLORIDA IMMIGRANT COALITION, INC., FARMWORKER ASSOCIATION OF FLORIDA, INC., FAMILY ACTION NETWORK MOVEMENT, INC., QLATINX, WECOUNT!, INC., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, PHILLIP K. STODDARD, Plaintiff, versus GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, ATTORNEY GENERAL, STATE OF FLORIDA, USCA11 Case: 21-13657 Document: 85-1 Date Filed: 04/13/2023 Page: 2 of 33 2 Opinion of the Court 21-13657 Defendants-Appellants. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:19-cv-22927-BB ____________________ Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, MARCUS, Circuit Judge, and MIZELLE,* District Judge. WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge: This appeal concerns whether several organizations may sue the governor and attorney general of Florida in federal court to challenge a state law that requires local law enforcement to coop- erate with federal immigration officials. The state law provides that local officials shall support the enforcement of federal immigration law and cooperate with federal immigration initiatives and officials and that local officials may transport aliens subject to an immigra- tion detainer to federal custody. Several plaintiff organizations sued the Florida governor and the Florida attorney general to enjoin en- forcement of the law. The organizations alleged that the provisions about support and cooperation were adopted with the intent to * Honorable Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida, sitting by designation. USCA11 Case: 21-13657 Document: 85-1 Date Filed: 04/13/2023 Page: 3 of 33 21-13657 Opinion of the Court 3 discriminate based on race and national origin in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. And they maintained that the transport provision is preempted by federal law. After a bench trial, the dis- trict court permanently enjoined the governor and attorney gen- eral from enforcing compliance with these provisions. This controversy is not justiciable because the organizations lack standing. The organizations have not established a cognizable injury and cannot spend their way into standing without an im- pending threat that the provisions will cause actual harm. Moreo- ver, the organizations’ alleged injury is neither traceable to the gov- ernor or attorney general nor redressable by a judgment against them because they do not enforce the challenged provisions. In- stead, local officials, based on the state law, must comply with fed- eral immigration law. We vacate and remand with instructions to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. I. BACKGROUND In 2019, the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill 168, Ch. 2019-102, § 1, Laws of Fla. (codified at FLA. STAT. §§ 908.101– 908.109), to advance the state’s interest in “cooperat[ing] [with] and assist[ing] the federal government in the enforcement of federal im- migration laws within th[e] state.” Id. § 908.101. Among other things, S.B. 168 prohibits so-called “sanctuary policies” by requiring local law enforcement to assist federal authorities in enforcing fed- eral immigration law. USCA11 Case: 21-13657 Document: 85-1 Date Filed: 04/13/2023 Page: 4 of 33 4 …
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Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals