War between republican states and president biden over state anti-immigrant laws continues

The Biden administration will sue the state of Iowa over its SF 2340 law that violates the U.S. Constitution. 

The Biden administration declared through the Department of Justice and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boyton that they will sue the state of Iowa in federal court if they continue to enforce the new law SF 2340, the governor has enacted this law for the sole purpose of punishing immigrants, similar to the anti-immigrant laws of Florida and Texas which are currently blocked by the federal court.

Apparently this law, which is set to go into effect on July 1, in the state of Iowa, which is not that far from Michigan but governed by Republicans, also grants federal immigration powers to local law enforcement agencies by taking over aspects that other courts including the Supreme Court have already declared unconstitutional in the past. Under this law, local law enforcement officers in Iowa will be able to stop and arrest people they have probable cause to believe are in the country without permission, including people who have previously been denied entry into the United States or have been deported or entered without permission.

This is another clear example of how Republican states are using their power to continue their anti-immigrant policies. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of which I am a proud member describes this bill as the most extreme, discriminatory and unconstitutional anti-immigrant law in the country, although it is similar to the Texas law which is suspended for now.

Under the provisions of SF 2340, as of July 1, Iowa police can arrest people based solely on their immigration status and will also authorize Iowa judges to order a person to be jailed and deported before they have the opportunity to seek the humanitarian protection such as asylum or withholding of removal to which all immigrants are entitled.

Federal law is very clear that states, including their local police and judges, have no legal basis to enforce immigration laws and that this is a violation of the U.S. Constitution, and also serves to encourage and increase discrimination based on racial profiling or stereotypes such as whether a person speaks Spanish or because he or she has darker skin. Again, federal law is very clear that states are not empowered or should not have this authority, but these states, and surely there are others like Oklahoma and Kansas, are ignoring this and are trying to pass similar laws and will continue to attack immigrants.

The federal government must continue to fight as it has done so far with the Texas and Iowa law so that the states cannot impose their racism and xenophobia. We will continue to demand that they pass pro-immigrant laws that give more opportunities to immigrants and at the same time we must continue to legally and politically attack these states. Also Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, who is a big supporter of candidate Trump has said that Iowa, even though it is far away from the border, needs this kind of laws to control immigrants, even though we already established that this is a federal issue.

It is time to stop these governors and continue to insist on the passage of federal pro-justice laws and not racist state laws.