HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla — Officials under the order of Mexico's president spoke Friday in support of a man accused of violating Florida’s new immigration law.
Raquel Lopez Aguilar is being held in Hernando County Jail after authorities arrested him last month and accused him of bringing six other undocumented immigrants from Georgia to Tampa. Lopez Aguilar is pleading not guilty and demanding a jury trial, according to notices read by the judge during his scheduled arraignment Thursday.
“We will win this case,” Juan Sabines, Mexican Consul in Orlando, said during a press conference in front of the detention center.
Representing Lopez Aguilar on the legal side is Mark Arias, who said he believes the state law may be tampering with federal immigration law.
Under the provisions of the law that was effective in July, anyone who knowingly transports undocumented immigrants into the state can face a third-degree felony. Gov. Ron DeSantis has called the legislation the most ambitious anti-illegal immigration law in the country.
The law has generated criticism from Mexico’s President Manuel Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He told Americans at one point not to vote for DeSantis in response to the new law.
DeSantis pushed back at the criticism, putting the blame on Mexico’s government and President Joe Biden.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the governor wrote:
“In Florida, we will not stand idly by while the federal government abandons its lawful duties to protect our nation. Legislation signed by Governor DeSantis gives Florida the most ambitious anti-illegal immigration laws in the country, fights back against reckless federal government policies, and ensures the Florida taxpayers are not footing the bill for Biden’s Border Crisis.”
Back in May, DeSantis also stated, “President Lopez Obrador should be cracking down on the cartels running his country and fueling our deadly opioid epidemic instead of worrying about what we are doing in Florida.”
Lopez Aguilar faces four counts of human smuggling, each of which is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Meanwhile, a coalition of groups has filed a lawsuit against a portion of the new law that is affecting Lopez Aguilar. Plaintiffs argue making it a felony to drive undocumented people into the state illegally supersedes federal law and is too vague.
Lopez Aguilar is scheduled back in court in October.