The Iowa House has sent the governor a bill giving state and local law enforcement officers authority to arrest undocumented immigrants and have them deported.
The vote came two hours after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a similar Texas law to take effect, at least temporarily, while an appeals court reviews the policy. Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison said Iowa must act because the federal government isn’t doing its job.
“We have never had such a situation on our southern border and extraordinary times require extraordinary measures,” Holt said.
Holt, in remarks on the House floor Tuesday afternoon, said the bill “pushes the envelope” when it comes to state authority to enforce immigration law, but he said that’s what is required to address a “clear and present danger.”
“There are many in our country and in our state illegally who just came here for a better life. We know that,” Holt said, “but there are also gang members, drug dealers, terrorists and people who have killed American citizens.”
The bill passed with the support of nearly all Republicans and a couple of Democrats in the House. Representative Sami Scheetz, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, said the bill may put the state in “a legal quagmire” because immigration policy is “constitutionally reserved” for the federal government.
“Illegal immigration is a serious problem that requires action, yet the approach laid out in this bill misses the heart of what it truly means to address this issue,” Scheetz said. “…Moreover, this bill in attempting to solve only one problem risks creating others, fostering fear among immigrant communities, disrupting families and potentially hindering cooperation with law enforcement.”
Governor Reynolds, in a written statement, said the Biden Administration has failed to enforce immigration laws and she looks forward to signing the bill into law.