A left-wing judge appointed by former President Barack Obama ruled against the state of Florida earlier this week, claiming that the state’s ban on “sanctuary cities” for illegal aliens was “discriminatory,” as reported by Breitbart.
Judge Beth Bloom, of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, was appointed by Obama in 2014. Her ruling dealt with a law passed in Florida by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) in 2019, which banned cities and local jurisdictions from shielding illegal aliens from federal immigration authorities. This is a practice that has been seen increasingly in Democratic-leaning states, as well as large cities in otherwise Republican states, and has led to spikes in crime due to the influx of illegals drawn to the protection of such cities and states.
In her ruling, Bloom declared that “defendants are permanently enjoined from enforcing Fla. Stat § 908.103 and Fla. Stat. § 908.104, because these statutory provisions are unconstitutional.” Bloom went on to falsely claim that “this statutory provision is preempted by federal immigration law,” even though the actions of sanctuary cities themselves are in violation of federal law, whereas the Florida law specifically sought to protect and reinforce federal immigration laws.
Bloom continued making false claims in her ruling, baselessly accusing Governor DeSantis and State Senator Joe Gruters (R-Fla.), the lawmaker who first introduced the bill, of having “discriminatory motives.” Specifically, she claimed without evidence that Gruters was involved in “the perpetuation of an immigrant threat narrative and the need to crack down on [illegal aliens]…Governor DeSantis also perpetuated the immigrant threat narrative through his campaign advertisements.”
The lawsuit was first filed in 2019 by the city of South Miami and several pro-illegal alien groups. The case is South Miami v. DeSantis, No. 1:19-cv-22927-BB. In a statement after the ruling, a DeSantis spokesperson said that the DeSantis Administration “disagrees with the ruling of the Obama judge, and we expect to win on appeal.”