Iowa Capital Dispatch
A federal judge on Monday issued a preliminary injunction
for Iowa’s law on illegal immigration, blocking it before enforcement was set
to begin July 1.
The U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of civil
rights groups argued in court a week ago that Senate File 2340 should
not be allowed to take effect.
Signed earlier this year, the measure gives law enforcement
officials the power to charge undocumented immigrants with an aggravated
misdemeanor for being found in Iowa after having been previously deported,
denied admission or removed from the U.S., or if they have an order to leave
the country.
The law was challenged by the DOJ, with officials arguing
that the new state law infringes on the federal government’s authority over
immigration law and enforcement, and that state enforcement of the measure
would create conflicts with federal immigration laws. But Iowa deputy solicitor
general Patrick Valencia argued the state law does not conflict with federal
immigration statutes or enforcement, as it does not contain new rules on
immigration. He said the state measure only gives Iowa law enforcement the
ability to enforce existing federal law.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher sided with
the DOJ, citing the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution that states the
constitution, federal laws and treaties take precedent over conflicting state
laws. The Iowa immigration measure is “preempted in its entirety by federal
law” and invalid, he wrote.
“As a matter of politics, the new legislation might be
defensible,” Locher wrote. “As a matter of constitutional law, it is not.”
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said in a statement that
her office will appeal the decision. Bird said she was “disappointed” in the
court’s decision and said it was a needed measure for “keeping our communities
safe” due to President Joe Biden’s border policies.
“Iowa never would have had to pass this law to begin with
if it weren’t for Biden’s open borders,” Bird said. “Rather than suing Iowa for
enforcing immigration laws, he should do his duty to secure the border.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds said she supported Bird’s choice to
appeal the decision, repeating the state attorney general’s criticisms of the
Biden administration.
“With this injunction states are left defenseless to the
ongoing crisis at our southern border,” Reynolds said in a statement. “Plainly,
the Biden administration is failing to do their job and enforce federal
immigration laws allowing millions to enter and re-enter without any
consequence or delay. I signed this bill into law to protect Iowans and our
communities from the results of this border crisis: rising crime, overdose
deaths, and human trafficking.”
Emma Winger, deputy legal director at the American
Immigration Council, who represented the coalition of civil rights groups and
Iowa plaintiffs also challenging the law, said state immigration enforcement
laws “create absolute chaos and human suffering and have no place in our legal
system.” The Iowa law was modeled after a 2023 Texas measure also under a preliminary injunction,
and the DOJ is challenging a similar law in Oklahoma.
“The court was right to block this cruel and blatantly
unconstitutional law,” Winger said in a statement. “If it had been allowed to
go into effect, it would have meant that even people currently living in the
U.S. lawfully could have been arrested, imprisoned, and forced to leave the
country.”
Leaders with immigrant advocacy groups like Guillermo
Trevino Jr, a priest and advocate with Escucha Mi Voz Iowa, celebrated the
injunction
“The judge’s ruling gives us more time to keep fighting,”
Trevino, Jr said in a statement. “I pray Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has
a change of heart and does not appeal the judge’s decision.”
