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Feds, civil rights groups sue to block Iowa immigration law
Law criminalizes ‘illegal reentry’ allows police to arrest and deport migrants
May. 9, 2024 5:35 pm, Updated: May. 10, 2024 7:48 am
The U.S. Department of Justice and Iowa civil rights and immigrant rights groups filed separate lawsuits Thursday to block enforcement of a new state law would let state officials arrest and deport immigrants previously denied entry to the country.
The groups intend to ask a federal court for a preliminary injunction to block the law from being enforced during the course of the litigation, and prior to it taking effect.
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 10 years in prison.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Iowa and the American Immigration Council filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa on behalf of Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and the thousands of immigrants that the organization assists, including two anonymous immigrants.
Download: 01 Stamped Complaint.pdf
They argue the Iowa law conflicts with existing federal law and interferes with the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration law. They also allege the state law would allow Iowa immigrants with legal status to be arrested and deported, going against immigration laws set by Congress.
“It is truly impossible to overstate how terrible this law is, how poorly written it is, how bizarre it is and how extreme it is,” ACLU of Iowa legal director Rita Bettis Austen said.
The Justice Department announced it, too, had filed suit. The department sent a letter last week to top state official warning it would sue to block the measure unless Iowa agrees to refrain from enforcing the new state law.
“The Constitution assigns the federal government to regulate immigration and manage our international borders,” according to the Justice Department. “Pursuant to this authority, Congress has established a comprehensive immigration framework governing the entry of non-citizens into the U.S. and the removal of non-citizens from the country. Because (Senate File) 2340 is preempted by federal law and violates the United States Constitution, the Justice Department seeks a declaration that SF 2340 is invalid and an order preliminarily or permanently enjoining the state from enforcing the law.”
Download: DOJ lawsuit over Iowa immigration law.pdf
Members of Iowa's Latino community, immigrant workers, advocates and allies marched and held candlelight vigils last week in Iowa City, Davenport, Waterloo and Des Moines to protest the law.
Escucha Mi Voz Iowa, an Iowa City-based immigrant advocacy group, in a statement ahead of the lawsuit's filing praised efforts to block the law.
“The federal government and the local groups filing suits are right. Gov. Reynolds' anti-immigrant deportation law is unconstitutional, and we will continue to fight it in court and on the streets,” Ninoska Campos, an Escucha Mi Voz Iowa member, said.
AG: Iowa 'stands ready to defend' immigration law
The ACLU lawsuit names Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and two county attorneys as defendants. The attorneys would be tasked with enforcing the state law in the counties where the anonymous immigrants named as plaintiffs in the suit reside.
Bird, in a statement, said “Iowa stands ready to defend our immigration law that keeps Iowa communities safe."
"When (Democratic President Jo) Biden fails to do his job and secure our border, states have to take matters into their own hands," Bird said. "Iowa's law is not unique; it simply enforces immigration laws while Biden refuses to.“
Reynolds and other Republicans who supported the bill assert the law is needed because federal government, in their view, has insufficiently enforced federal immigration laws and abdicated its duty to control the U.S.-Mexico border.
“As Governor, I have a responsibility to protect the citizens of Iowa. Since President Biden refuses to enforce our nation’s immigration laws — threatening the safety of our citizens — Iowa will step in,” Reynolds said in a statement.
ACLU: Law will ensnare those with legal status
The legal complaint states SF2340 creates new crimes for anyone in Iowa, including a child, who has reentered the country after being deported, even if that person is now authorized to be in the country. The law states a court may not halt prosecution on the basis that a federal determination regarding the immigration status of the person is pending or will be initiated.
“As our two green card holder clients make clear, it would likewise apply to people who have been granted asylum, or may have special visa given to them because they're survivors of domestic violence or other crimes,” the ACLU’s Austen said.
The lawsuit highlights 18-year-old “Anna” (a pseudonym used in the lawsuit to protect her identity), who was born in Honduras, where her father was murdered and her sister kidnapped. She fled to the United States with her mother in 2019 when she was 14. They were deported in 2020. Shortly after, still fearing for her life, “Anna” reentered the country again, this time unaccompanied. She applied for and received asylum, and is living in Iowa lawfully with an Iowa family and attending high school.
But under SF 2340, she can be arrested and deported, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also includes an Iowa immigrant referred to as Jane Doe. A 68-year-old widow, mother of five and grandmother with health problems, she is currently a lawful permanent resident. A native of Mexico, she has lived in the United States for years.
Doe, who lives in Garnavillo, was ordered removed in 2005 and then deported to Mexico, the suit states. Because her husband was a citizen, he applied for her to lawfully return. However, the application wasn’t approved before his death. It wasn’t until 2022 that she was able to return to Iowa. Even though she holds a green card, she “has experienced anxiety and fear that she will be removed under SF 2340 and separated from her family.”
Another plaintiff, referred to as Elizabeth Roe, 40, a lawful permanent resident who lives in Des Moines with her husband. The suit states Roe came to the United States in 2016 to reunite with her brothers, who are U.S. citizens. She was deported in 2017, married her U.S. citizen husband in 2018 and waited five years for her visa and inadmissibility waiver to be approved by the government. She lawfully reentered in 2023.
“She worries that the life she has worked so hard to build here in Iowa will be shattered if she is prosecuted under SF 2340,” the lawsuit states.
Police chief: Law will diminish public safety
Democrats, activists and some police officials contend the law has serious logistical issues and will harm the relationship between law enforcement and immigrants.
They say it dumps immigration law at the feet of local law enforcement, who say they don't have the tools or training to carry it out fairly. The law does not provide funding or a requirement to train officers on immigration law.
Law enforcement officials have said publicly the law will diminish public safety, not improve it, by making immigrants afraid to report crime and cooperate with police.
“It will create fear in our community that will make people reluctant to talk to police and to report crimes,” Marshalltown Police Chief Michael Tupper said in a statement.
Maria Corona, executive director of the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said the law puts immigrant victims of domestic violence and sexual assault at risk.
“This law not only deters immigrant victims of intimate partner violence from calling police, but it penalizes victims already working with law enforcement to improve public safety by putting them at risk for arrest, deportation, or incarceration,” Corona said. “Discouraging domestic violence victims from calling police when they are in danger puts individuals at greater risk, undermines public safety, and threatens the well-being of communities across Iowa.”
The Iowa case is similar to Texas law that has been challenged by both the Justice Department and civil rights groups. The Texas law is temporarily blocked while a federal appeals court weighs a challenge to a lower court's ruling that struck it down.
Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com
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