DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Civil rights and immigrant rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that Iowa’s new law making it a crime to be in the state if the His denial of admission to the United States is unconstitutional.
It is the first lawsuit filed against Iowa in response to the law, although the U.S. Department of Justice warned top state officials last week that the agency would pursue legal action unless that they do not agree not to apply it.
The complaint filed Thursday alleges the new law undermines the federal government’s power to enforce immigration law. The case is similar to a broader Texas law that has been challenged by both the Justice Department and civil rights groups.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said Friday the state will not back down.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and the American Immigration Council filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and two Iowa individuals.
The Iowa law has increased fear among the state’s immigrant communities that its enforcement will lead to racial and ethnic profiling, complicate interactions with police or deter community members from reporting a crime. Activist and advocacy groups, one of which is named in the complaint, have held rallies to try to answer people’s questions and staged protests in response.
Texas was only allowed to enforce the law for a few confusing hours in March, before it was suspended by a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court. The panel heard arguments from supporters and opponents in April and will soon issue a decision on the constitutionality of the law.
Some law enforcement officials and legal experts said unanswered questions remained about how the Iowa and Texas laws would be implemented, since immigration enforcement has historically fallen to the federal government and was a binational process.
The Iowa law, which takes effect July 1, would allow criminal charges to be brought against people who have outstanding deportation orders or who have already been deported or refused entry to the states -United. Once in custody, migrants could either accept a judge’s decision. in order to leave the United States under penalty of prosecution.
In Iowa and across the country, Republican leaders are accusing Democratic President Joe Biden of failing to handle the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The only reason we had to pass this law is because the Biden administration refuses to enforce laws already on the books,” Reynolds said in a statement Friday.
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