Jackie Llanos
Covering Florida politics and policy (mostly relating to immigration) for
Florida Phoenix with @statesnewsroom.com | Roll ‘ders 🕷️
- Excited about joining @notusreports.bsky.social as a fellow covering Congress! Don't delete me from your Florida media lists just yet, I'll be sticking around Tallahassee until late July. aji.org/news/allbrit...
- Story with the statements Uthmeier said to Fox News today on facing sanctions over the suspended state immigration law: floridaphoenix.com/2025/05/02/d...
- Fla. AG James Uthemeier says he plans to release a statement later today about a federal judge considering holding him in contempt over his letter labeling the judge's order blocking enforcement of a new state immigration law as illegitimate.
- Another story today based on the suit... 1) Federal judge extended the block on the immigration law that led to the arrest of a U.S. citizen 2) Uthmeier could face sanctions for violating the court's TRO. TBD at a May 29 hearing. 3) State appealed judge's order to 11th Circuit.
- Here’s the full story: floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/29/u-s…
- Federal judge in Miami grilled an attorney representing AG Uthmeier over his 4/23 letter telling law enforcement he couldn’t stop them from enforcing an immigration law that led to the arrest of a U.S. citizen.Full story coming soon!
- NEW: Florida settled a suit Monday accusing the former FEMA head and a supervisor of discrimination against Trump supporters during disaster relief efforts following Hurricanes Helene and Milton. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/28/f...
- ICYMI yesterday: Fla. House voted both to require parental consent for health care providers to treat minors with STIs and to let older teens work full-time hours during the school year without their parents’ permission.
- Report: People needing assistance in Spanish from DCF's call center wait on hold for nearly an hour. That wait time is an improvement from 2023, when Spanish speakers waited an average of 120 minutes for help. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/24/d...
- Fla's AG sent a letter to law enforcement today stating that he won’t stop them from enforcing a temporarily blocked state immigration law that led to the arrest of a U.S. citizen last week. More below!
- 🚨The Department of Homeland Security is blaming a U.S. citizen for his arrest during a traffic stop in Leon County last week under a temporarily blocked state immigration law.
- ICE is in custody of Estiven Sales-Perez. I went with his uncle to the field office where the online system states Sales-Perez is being held. We were not allowed in.
- UPDATE: A federal judge brought up the arrest in Leon County of Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen born in Georgia, during a hearing Friday in which she extended her block of the new Florida immigration law until April 29. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/18/f...
- BREAKING: Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez has been released. This is the moment he reunited with his mom.
- Protest happening at the Leon County jail where Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, who was born in the U.S. , is being held after his arrest for illegally entering Florida as an “unauthorized alien.”
- I’m at the Leon County Jail with the mom of the 20 year old U.S. citizens arrested for illegally entering Florida after a traffic stop. She showed his birth certificate in court. He’s still in jail waiting for ICE officials to pick him up.
- 🚨A U.S. born citizen was arrested in Florida for entering the state as an “unauthorized alien.” His mother and a community advocate showed his birth certificate during a hearing in Leon County. The judge said she had no authority to release him.
- The Florida Legislature is advancing a bill requiring agency heads to live in Tallahassee. DeSantis said today lawmakers pulled the proposal "out of their rear ends." floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/15/d...
- SCOOP: The head of Florida’s emergency agency sent a memo last week ordering local officials to gather personal data about immigrants they suspected of living in the country without authorization, even those who aren’t arrested. The move went too far for sheriffs. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/11/e...
- ICYMI yesterday: Fetuses could have the same legal protections as children under a bill the Republican-led Florida House passed. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/09/f...
- FAU's police department is seeking immigration enforcement authority from ICE to question and detain people. The university’s new president was an executive for the GEO Group, a for-profit prison company that runs ICE detention centers. floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/02/f...
- Reposted by Jackie LlanosAn FDA worker confirms what I've seen out there. CDC's entire FOIA office is gone. The FDA's communications and web office were cut. "The FDA as we know it is gone."
- NEW: The executive director of the new State Board of Immigration Enforcement is pushing for the Florida Division of Emergency Management to house and transport immigrants awaiting deportation. floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/31/s...
- ICYMI from me this morning: Florida teens are contracting STIs at rates higher than in the past decade, and a bill advancing in the Republican-controlled Legislature would require them to tell their parents to secure treatment. floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/26/a...
- My latest: A bill advancing in the Florida Senate would make it harder for children without legal status who are fleeing abuse in their home countries to become permanent residents. floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/14/m...
- Important update to this story: Pinellas County Schools are backing off from an agreement with ICE to deputize school police for immigration enforcement efforts. The school chief of police signed it without the knowledge of the school board or superintendent. floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/06/p...
- The Pinellas County Schools police department could be the first in the country to enter an agreement with ICE. ICE posted on its website that the school police department has a pending application to execute a task force model agreement deputizing local law enforcement.
- Advocates raised several objections to the legislation, one of them the constitutionality of making people living in the state w/o legal status subject to the death penalty if found guilty of a capital offense. floridaphoenix.com/2025/02/12/i...
- ICYMI from me yesterday: Florida nursing students are passing the national licensure exam at higher rates than in the past decade, but the rates remain the worst in the country, according to a report published Monday. floridaphoenix.com/2025/02/10/f...
- Miami-Dade Republican Sen. Bryan Avila filed a bill Thursday requiring political pollsters to disclose the sponsor before collecting responses. I talked to two pollsters at FAU and UNF. Here are their thoughts on the proposal. floridaphoenix.com/2025/02/06/p...
- Hundreds gathered in front of the old Florida Capitol on Wednesday afternoon to protest the Trump administration, including the president’s actions against immigrants and transgender people. The protest was part of a nationwide #50501movement floridaphoenix.com/2025/02/05/p...
