Governor of Iowa Kim Reynolds signed a law that would allow local authorities to arrest some undocumented immigrants and state courts to order their deportation, making Iowa the second state recently challenging the federal government’s authority over immigration policy.
The legislation, Senate File 2340, criminalizes being in Iowa if a person has already been deported or denied entry into the country. The law comes into force in July.
In a statement released Wednesday, Reynolds criticized President Joe Biden’s immigration policies and said the bill “gives Iowa officials the power to do what he is unwilling to do: enforce immigration laws already in place.” ”.
Iowa now joins Texas in granting state officials the power to impose their own rules on immigration, a move that civil rights groups call unconstitutional; The American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday that the Iowa law “facilitates racial profiling and stereotyping.” In March, a federal appeals court prevented Texas law from being enforced as the legal battle over this unfolds.
Both state laws reflect a similar failed attempt by Arizona to challenge federal immigration powers 14 years ago.
Like many other Republican governors, Reynolds has been a fierce critic of Biden’s immigration policies. She has deployed the Iowa National Guard to support Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s anti-immigrant crackdown and has made several trips to the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years.
But the new law targets people in Reynolds’ own state. According to American Immigration Council, just 5.3% of Iowa residents were born abroad – with undocumented immigrants making up 1.1% of the state’s population. What’s more, Des Moines is more than 1,700 miles from, say, Eagle Pass, Texasa border town that is central to the political standoff between Abbott and Biden.
This article was originally published in MSNBC.com
