A lawsuit has been filed by several civil rights organizations against the state of Iowa for enacting a law that permits authorities to apprehend and detain certain undocumented immigrants.
SF 2340, which was signed by Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, empowers local and state law enforcement to arrest and press charges against illegal immigrants who have deportation orders pending or who have reentered the United States after being previously deported or denied entry to the country’s interior.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Iowa and the American Immigration Council have taken legal action against Iowa, arguing that the law is unconstitutional and will disproportionately impact the immigrant community in the state.
“Supporters of this law say they passed it because they are tired of the way the federal government and the current administration is handling immigration enforcement. We can all agree that our immigration system needs improvement, but this law is no solution,” Erica Johnson, founding executive director of Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, claimed in a statement on Thursday.
“Instead, it increases fear among Iowa’s immigrant communities and overwhelms local groups who are doing the real work of finding solutions and creating thriving communities.”
The lawsuit claims that the state law is hindering the Biden administration’s capacity to uphold federal immigration laws, as reported by NBC News. ACLU of Iowa asserts that it will lead to heightened racial profiling and the breaking up of families.
Previously, the Department of Justice under the Biden administration had warned Iowa of a potential lawsuit if the law was not removed. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird had stated earlier that the state would not yield to demands for the law’s repeal.
“Iowa won’t back down. We will defend our law, even if the federal government is going to sue us,” Bird during a Fox News interview on May 5.
“Iowa has an immigration problem. Iowa isn’t a border state, we’re a long way from the border, but now every state is a border state with the border so out of control.”
The Biden administration has actively worked to prevent states like Iowa and Texas from implementing stricter measures to address the issue of illegal immigration.
Texas, in particular, has been engaged in a legal dispute with the administration, as it has deployed its state National Guard to the southern border and hindered the Border Patrol’s involvement in border enforcement activities.
During the Biden administration, there has been a significant increase in illegal immigration.
Border Patrol data reveals that in fiscal year 2021, there were approximately 1.6 million encounters with migrants at the southern border.
This number is higher than the over 2 million encounters in fiscal year 2023 and the over a million encounters in the first six months of fiscal year 2024, as reported by Customs and Border Protection.
