The U.S. Department of Justice and civil rights groups filed two lawsuits Thursday to block enforcement of a new Iowa law that would let state officials arrest and deport immigrants who are in Iowa after previously being deported or denied entry to the country.
The law is supposed to take effect July 1, but the DOJ and civil rights groups are asking a federal court to permanently bar Iowa officials from enforcing it. They argue the law violates the U.S. Constitution because only the federal government has the authority to enforce immigration laws.
"Iowa cannot disregard the U.S. Constitution and settled Supreme Court precedent," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the DOJ's civil division. "We have brought this action to ensure that Iowa adheres to the framework adopted by Congress and the Constitution for regulation of immigration."
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Iowa, and the American Immigration Council filed a separate lawsuit earlier Thursday on behalf of Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and two immigrants using pseudonyms.
ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen said it’s important to have one federal immigration system instead of 50 separate systems.
“SF2340 conflicts with federal immigration law in ways that are very harmful to immigrants in Iowa,” she said. “For example, it criminalizes people who do have legal authority to be present in our country, and in our state, but have been removed in the past.”
Bettis Austen said the law would subject people to arrest and deportation even if they were granted asylum, have a special visa for crime victims, or were children when they were deported and re-entered the country with their families.
Gov. Kim Reynolds responded on the social media site X.
"The DOJ and ACLU are suing Iowa for protecting our citizens, all while Joe Biden refuses to enforce immigration laws already on the books," she said. "If he won't stand for the rule of law, Iowa will!"
The ACLU lawsuit names Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and two county attorneys as defendants.
"When Biden fails to do his job and secure our border, states have to take matters into their own hands," Bird said in a statement. "Iowa's law is not unique; it simply enforces immigration laws while Biden refuses to. Iowa stands ready to defend our immigration law that keeps Iowa communities safe."
Erica Johnson, founding executive director of Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, said the law is increasing fear among Iowa’s immigrant and refugee communities.
“It’s also just an incredibly inhumane law that puts lives and families at risk,” she said. “It takes people including children who have been living here peacefully and contributing to their communities, sometimes for decades, it sets them up for deportation.”
The legal complaint includes the story of "Anna," an 18-year-old high school student in Iowa who tried to cross the border with her mother and sister when she was 14. According to the complaint, Anna’s father had been murdered in Honduras and her other sister was kidnapped.
Anna was removed from the U.S. with her remaining family members. She later re-entered the U.S. on her own, and her asylum application was approved. The civil and immigrant rights groups argue people like Anna could be subject to arrest and deportation under Iowa’s law.
The civil rights groups say two county attorneys are named as defendants in their lawsuit simply because they are the top prosecutors in the counties that are home to the two immigrant plaintiffs.
Polk County Attorney Kimberly Graham said in a statement she is “a supporter of immigrants and the Latinx community in Iowa” and will not actively participate in the lawsuit. She said she is concerned that the new law would erode trust between law enforcement and immigrants, and lead to crimes going unreported.
“We will work to keep everyone safe in Polk County whether you’ve lived here all your life, are documented or undocumented, or visiting for just a day,” Graham said. “We will always support victims and witnesses and serve everyone in our community, regardless of immigration status.”
Similar Texas law is held up in the courts
The Biden administration sued Texas in January to block enforcement of a similar law in that state. The Texas law has been on hold, except for a few hours in March when it was briefly allowed to take effect. A three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering whether it can be enforced.
The Iowa law establishes a state crime of “illegal reentry.” It empowers state and local police to arrest people suspected of being in the country after being deported or denied entry to the U.S.
Immigrants could face up to two years in prison if convicted of illegal reentry. Those who were previously deported after being convicted of other crimes could face up to five or ten years in prison.
The law authorizes state judges to order immigrants to return to the foreign nation from which they entered the country. Their orders would have to include the manner of transportation and the state or local law enforcement agency responsible for ensuring the person leaves the country.
Immigrants and advocates protested the law in four Iowa cities last week.
They urged each other to not give in to the fear that they said the law was meant to create and promised to fight for immigrants’ rights to be treated fairly.
Opponents of the law said while Republican officials have said this will help the state crack down on illegal immigration, it will actually allow police to arrest some people with legal status. They said it will not let police target undocumented immigrants who didn’t already have contact with immigration officials. Critics also raised concerns about the law's potential for contributing to racial profiling by police.
Some law enforcement officials have said they are not equipped to enforce immigration laws, and they worry the law is already having negative impacts on relationships with immigrant communities in Iowa.
Marshalltown Police Chief Michael Tupper, who is also co-chair of the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force, said last month that problems at the southern border cannot be solved from Des Moines.
“Playing politics with public safety never helps public safety,” Tupper said. “This law will make the job of law enforcement more difficult. It will diminish public safety because it will cause people to needlessly fear the police. This law has severely harmed community relationships that took decades to build.”
While Reynolds has said the state would work to give law enforcement information about implementing the law, Republican lawmakers have not provided details about how the state of Iowa would transport people to Mexico and other countries.
House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, recently said on Iowa PBS that states will have to take “aggressive measures” if the federal government does not stop more people from crossing the country’s southern border.
“Telling our constituents that the number one issue we’re hearing about is something we can’t do anything about or even attempt to do anything [about], I think is really not the right decision for states to make,” Grassley said.
This story was updated Thursday, May 9 at 5:03 p.m. It was initially published at 12:12 p.m.
