Florida seeks to enforce a law making it a crime for people in the US illegally to enter the state

MIAMI AP Florida s attorney general on Wednesday appealed a federal judge s injunction that temporarily stops officers from enforcing a new state law making it a misdemeanor for people who came to the U S illegally to enter Florida by eluding immigration leaders State Attorney General James Uthmeier and local prosecutors also inquired U S District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami to put her injunction on hold while the order is appealed to the th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta In her ruling on Tuesday the judge specified that her order applied to all of the state s local law enforcement agencies despite a latest letter to the contrary from Uthmeier The judge also set a hearing in May to determine if Uthmeier should be held in contempt for sending the letter to law enforcement agencies in Florida The judge had issued a -day temporary restraining order on April shortly after a lawsuit challenging the law was filed by the Florida Immigrant Coalition and other groups with encouragement from the American Civil Liberties Union Williams extended the order another days after learning the Florida Highway Patrol had arrested more than a dozen people including a U S citizen The lawsuit alleges the new law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U S Constitution by encroaching on federal duties After Williams issued her extension April Uthmeier sent a memo to state and local law enforcement officers telling them to refrain from enforcing the law even though he disagreed with the injuction But five days later he sent another memo saying that the judge was legally wrong and that he couldn t prevent local police officers and deputies from enforcing the law