Justice Department intends to sue to block Iowa immigration law

Reynolds has said Iowa needs to defend itself, attributing increases in fentanyl seizures, drug overdose deaths and human trafficking to illegal immigration issues and what she said has been a failure of Democratic President Joe Biden to secure the southern border.

“The only reason we had to pass this law is because the Biden Administration refuses to enforce the laws already on the books,” Reynolds, a Republican, said in a statement. “I have a duty to protect the citizens of Iowa. Unlike the federal government, we will respect the rule of law and enforce it.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/uslr2bmCNvg

Biden has hit back at congressional Republicans for playing politics with the border and walking away from a bipartisan border security bill endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council. The deal was part of a $118 billion national security supplemental package that included aid for Ukraine, security assistance for Israel and humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine, and aid to the Indo-Pacific.

It included $20.2 billion for improvements to US border security. The proposal also would have overhauled the process for seeking asylum in the United States, raising the initial standard a person must pass to access the asylum system. It also would have expanded additional visas and future green card availability, while also increasing detention capacity.

Once illegal border crossings reach a certain threshold, the Department of Homeland Security would be required under the measure to exercise a new authority that bars migrants, except unaccompanied minors, from crossing between ports of entry.

The US House last month failed to pass a separate border security bill. Democrats argued that the bill was a rehash of a bill House Republicans passed last year that would reinstate Trump-era immigration policies, such as the construction of the border wall, and require asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico.

Bird, also a Republican, said in a statement that “Iowa will not back down.”

“Not only has Biden refused to enforce federal immigration laws and secure our border, he is now threatening to block states like Iowa from enforcing our own laws,” Bird said. ”Our message to Biden is this: Iowa will not back down and stand by as our state’s security hangs in the balance. If Biden refuses to stop the border invasion and keep our communities safe, Iowa will do the job for him.”

Set to take effect July 1, the new law makes it a state crime for someone to attempt to enter Iowa after being previously deported or barred from entering the United States.

The law makes it an aggravated misdemeanor, which carries up to a two-year sentence. In some cases, including people with certain prior convictions, the state crime would become a felony, punishable by up to five to 10 years in prison.

For those convicted under the new law, Iowa judges will be required to issue an order requiring the person return to the country from which he or she entered the United States. The order must specify the manner in which the person would be transported to a US port of entry. Undocumented immigrants could face felony charges for non-compliance.

A similar law passed in Texas is temporarily blocked while a federal appeals court weighs a challenge to a lower court’s ruling that struck down the measure. The lower court found the law “threatens the fundamental notion that the United States must regulate immigration with one voice.”

Boynton, in his letter to state officials, cited a 2012 US Supreme Court decision that found Arizona’s state immigration provisions conflicted in part with federal immigration laws. The court said the federal government has “broad, undoubted power over the subject of immigration and the status of” noncitizens.

Iowa’s law effectively creates a separate state immigration scheme by imposing state-level criminal penalties for violating federal laws barring unlawful reentry into the United States, he wrote. SF2340 also conflicts with federal law permitting undocumented immigrants to seek protection while seeking asylum or humanitarian parole to avoid persecution or torture in their home country, the letter states.

Members of Iowa’s Latino community, immigrant workers, advocates and allies marched and held vigils earlier this week in Iowa City, Davenport, Waterloo and Des Moines to protest the new state law.

Immigrant rights advocates warn the Iowa law will lead to widespread racial profiling and stereotyping, and already consume strapped state court and law enforcement resources.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/F553R_-w-5Y

Some law enforcement officials in the state have said they lack the tools and resources at their disposal to enforce the law.

Opponents also raised concerns that parents may be separated from their children if arrested under the new state crime.

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