WHAT WAS THE FIRST CLUE?:

A federal judge has struck down portions of a Florida immigration enforcement law that was a priority of the state's Republican governor, saying in her ruling that the measure was racially motivated.

U.S. Judge Beth Bloom on Tuesday rejected sections of the law that ban local government sanctuary policies and require local law enforcement to make their best effort to work with federal immigration enforcement authorities.

The office of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the bill into law with much fanfare in 2019 as a priority of his administration, said Wednesday that it would appeal.

Bloom repeatedly said that the law was racially motivated and that its supporters showed no evidence as to why it was needed to lower crime. She said that the sponsor of the bill -- SB 168 -- was guided by anti-immigrant hate groups such as Floridians for Immigration Enforcement.

"Allowing anti-immigrant hate groups that overtly promote xenophobic, nationalist, racist ideologies to be intimately involved in a bill's legislative process is a significant departure from procedural norms," Bloom wrote. "This involvement strongly suggests that the Legislature enacted SB 168 to promote and ratify the racist views of these advocacy groups."

Bloom cited numerous communication between Floridians for Immigration Enforcement and state Sen. Joe Gruters' staff. Gruters sponsored the bill and also serves as chairman of the state Republican Party.

"On many occasions during the 2019 legislative session, (Floridians for Immigration Enforcement's ) racial animus and discriminatory intent were made apparent to Senator Gruters and his staff but were ignored," Bloom wrote.

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