KDSN RADIO News
Federal judge temporarily blocks Iowa’s immigration law
.jpg)
A federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of Iowa’s immigration law to make illegal reentry a state crime.
The law is designed to give state officials authority to arrest and deport immigrants who’d previously been deported or denied legal entry into the U.S. It was scheduled to go into effect July 1. In his ruling, U-S District Court Judge Stephen Locher said: “As a matter of politics, the new legislation might be defensible. As a matter of constitutional law, it is not.”
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird will appeal the ruling. Governor Kim Reynolds said: “With this injunction states are left defenseless to the ongoing crisis at our southern border.” Federal courts have blocked enforcement of similar laws in Texas and Oklahoma.
Last month the U.S. Department of Justice and Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice filed lawsuits seeking to block the law from being enforced. Emma Winger, an attorney for the American Immigration Council, called the Iowa law “blatantly unconstitutional” and said it could have led to prosecution of some immigrants who’d previously been deported, but now have current legal status to live in the United States.
