In 2019, Florida passed a law banning sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants in the state. A federal court ruled last September that the law was unconstitutional because it violated equal protection rights.

Last week, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed a brief in a federal appellate court supporting Florida in the legal battle. The amicus brief was co-led by Georgia and also supported by 15 other states.

In the brief, Marshall argued that the court was legislating from the bench.

“In our ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people,’ legislatures legislate. Courts do not,” he said.

The attorney general said the court’s reasoning was suspect in this case.

“A legislative judgment that federal immigration laws should be enforced is not an extreme or suspect position,” he argued. “Yet the district court invalidated Florida law because it thinks Florida acted with secret discriminatory intent.”

Marshall expressed hope that the higher court would step in a restore the sanctuary cities law.

“An unelected federal judge apparently disagrees with Florida’s political judgment about
whether immigration laws should be enforced, but that should not be relevant,” he continued. “My hope is that the Eleventh Circuit undoes the district court’s troubling ruling and puts an end to this practice of legislation by judicial fiat.”

The brief was filed before the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals by Marshall and attorneys general from Georgia, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.

Attorney General Steve Marshall Files Federal Court Brief Supporting Florida Law Banning Sanctuary Citieshttps://t.co/cNucu9Y3cz pic.twitter.com/e2fc31Da1F

— Attorney General Steve Marshall (@AGSteveMarshall) May 27, 2022

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” Weekdays 9-11am on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee