Florida Attorney General urges 11th Circuit to lift block on immigrant transport ban

Florida’s attorney general filed a petition with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to reverse a lower-court injunction that stops the state from enforcing SB 1718, a 2023 statute that makes it a felony to transport any person who entered the United States illegally and has not been inspected by federal officials into Florida. During oral arguments, judges probed the definition of “inspect” and whether the law intrudes on the federal government’s exclusive immigration role.

The state maintains the law aligns with federal inspection standards and applies even to U.S. citizens who reenter unlawfully. Opponents, led by the Farmworker Association of Florida and supported by the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, argue the statute is unconstitutionally vague and preempted by federal law. The panel, composed of judges Kevin Newsom, Nancy Abudu and Embry Kidd, expressed uncertainty about certifying the issue to the state supreme court and has not indicated when it will issue a ruling.