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KDSN RADIO News
Federal appeals court hears arguments over Iowa immigration law
A federal appeals court could take months to decide whether Iowa’s new immigration law that makes illegal reentry a state crime can be enforced.
During a hearing in federal court yesterday, Iowa’s Solicitor General said the law was passed in response to “an immigration crisis” and he argued local law enforcement should be able to arrest and charge migrants who were previously deported or denied entry into the United States.
American Immigration Council Deputy Legal Director Emma Winger said some immigrants with permanent legal status could be prosecuted under Iowa’s law. “There’s nothing that truly protects our clients from arrest, prosecution, imprisonment, and then orders to leave the country other than a federal court order,” Winger told reporters after the hearing. “And that’s of course what we’re asking for.”
The U.S. Justice Department and immigrant rights groups filed the lawsuit that challenged Iowa’s law and earlier this year a federal district court judge issued an order to block it from being enforced. Iowa’s law is similar to a Texas law which has also been blocked by court action.
