DES MOINES, Iowa – The federal government has long had sole authority over immigration policy in the United States, but several Republican-led states have continued to push for a role in enforcing regulations, out of frustration with current policy and as a way to criticize the Democratic president. from the USA, Joe Biden.
With polls showing that Americans are increasingly concerned about illegal immigration, concern has grown. become a major problem in the presidential campaign between Biden and Republican Donald Trump. Republican officials in several states say they owe it to their citizens to be more proactive in prosecuting and deporting people who do not have legal status to be in the United States.
Iowa is among the states that have passed laws giving state law enforcement and courts the right to bring criminal charges against people based on their immigration status, but this week a federal judge blocked new state regulations which were supposed to come into effect on July 1st.
A federal judge on Monday issued a preliminary injunction blocking a law passed by Republican lawmakers and Republican Party Governor Kim Reynolds which gave state authorities some power that was left to federal authorities. The Iowa law would allow prosecutors to bring criminal charges against people who have pending deportation orders or who have previously been removed or denied admission to the U.S.
After being detained, migrants would have the option of agreeing to a judge’s order to leave the country or being prosecuted, potentially facing prison time before deportation.
The U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of civil rights groups filed a lawsuit arguing that Iowa’s new rules would lead to confusion and chaos. In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher temporarily blocked the law, saying the DOJ and civil rights groups would likely succeed in their argument that federal immigration law preempted Iowa’s new law.
Locher said the law may be “defensible” from a political perspective, but “from a constitutional law perspective, it is not.”
Iowa’s Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird criticized the Biden administration for trying to block the state law and vowed to appeal.
Texas has taken the lead in seeking a state role in immigration enforcement, passing a law under which migrants who are in custody on illegal entry charges can comply with a judge’s order to leave the country or face prosecution. . The law came into force for just a few hours in March before a three-judge federal appeals court suspended it.
The DOJ has sued Oklahoma to block a similar law, arguing that it violates the U.S. Constitution.
In Georgia, a new law requires corrections officials to check with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to determine whether prisoners are in the country illegally. The law makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly fail to check immigration status and denies state funding to local governments that do not cooperate.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed into law a bill that requires law enforcement agencies to report to federal authorities if they become aware of people in the country illegally and help authorities identify, detain and deport them.
New Hampshire lawmakers also approved a proposal aimed at people suspected of entering the country illegally that would make it a crime to cross certain properties that have been preserved as open space unless engaging in permitted activities such as hunting, fishing or hiking. The change to the state’s trespassing law awaits the governor’s signature.
Democratic-led states have largely left immigration enforcement to the Biden administration, but some have sought to expand immigrant rights.
In Maryland, lawmakers passed a bill seeking federal law exemption to allow people to buy health insurance through the state’s healthcare exchange, regardless of immigration status.
Arizona’s Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, vetoed a bill similar to the Texas law in March, leading lawmakers to narrowly pass a measure that asked voters to make it a state crime for noncitizens to enter the state at any location. that is not an entry point. The measure will be voted on on November 5th.
Research shows that More than half of American adults think Biden’s immigration policies have harmed the country.
Trump and other Republicans have sought to benefit from this vulnerability by singling out asylum seekers and other migrants seeking to enter the US illegally.
Biden and some other Democrats responded by noting that the president proposed strict immigration restrictions but were blocked by Republicans, with the president arguing that Trump wanted keep the conflict alive as a campaign issue.
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Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire; Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland; and Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this report.
