May 10 (UPI) — The Biden administration and several civil rights organizations are suing Iowa to prevent enforcement of a controversial law that would permit the imprisonment and deportation of migrants in the state who have been previously denied entry into the United States.
The legislation, Senate File 2340, was signed into law April 10 to create a new state criminal offense that would penalize non-citizens in Iowa if they have been previously denied admission to the United States. The law would also require Iowa courts to oder their removal to the country from which they entered the United States and does not exempt children from the aggravated misdemeanor charges.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other such groups on behalf of the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and two Iowans and the Justice Department filed separate lawsuits Thursday to prevent the law from going into effect July 1.
Both lawsuits state S.F. 2340 is unconstitutional, while Iowa’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, argues it is needed to protect the state from President Joe Biden‘s immigration polices.
Federal prosecutors in their complaint accuse the law of attempting to usurp immigration powers from the federal government. The civil rights organizations add in their complaint that the legislation permits the arrest of immigrants who re-enter the United States with federal consent or who later gain lawful immigration status.
“Iowa cannot disregard the U.S. Constitution and settled Supreme Court precedent,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement.
“We have brought this action to ensure that Iowa adheres to the framework adopted by Congress and the Constitution for regulation of immigration.”
The ACLU describes the law as “one of the worst, most far-reaching immigration laws” ever passed in the state, arguing it not only conflicts with existing federal law, but its implications are far reaching.
Under the legislation, local law enforcement will be directed to arrest immigrants who have authorization to be in the country, including those granted asylum, awarded one of dozens of other authorized immigration statues and given visas protecting victims of crime, trafficking or domestic violence, the civil liberties union said.
As an example of a potential victim to the law, the ACLU said Anna — the alias of an 18-year-old high school student from Honduras whose father was murdered and sister kidnapped — has received asylum and is lawfully in the United States. But she and her mother were deported when she was 14, which, under the new law, opens her up to arrest and deportation in her home state of Iowa.
If the law goes into effect, Anna faces prosecution, imprisonment and removal to Mexico, where she is neither from nor has family there.
“This ugly law is deeply harmful to Iowa families and communities,” ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen said in a statement.
“Iowa lawmakers knowingly targeted people who are protected by federal immigration laws and who are legally allowed to be here, like people granted asylum, or special visas given to survivors of domestic violence or other crimes.”
The legislation is similar to Texas’ Senate Bill 4, which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law late last year amid his feud with the Biden administration over immigration.
The Biden administration and civil rights organizations similarly challenged the Texas bill in court, and the law has been blocked amid further litigation since March.
Abbott has defended the bill by stating Texas has a right to defend itself from “Biden’s ongoing failure to fulfill his duty to protect our state from the invasion at our southern border.”
Reynolds on Thursday issued a brief statement, mirroring Abbott’s sentiment.
“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,” she said.
