Attorney General Brenna Bird has filed a lawsuit against a northeast Iowa lawman she calls a “sanctuary sheriff.”
Bird is accusing Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx of discouraging law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
In February, on Facebook, Marx said immigration detainer requests aren’t always reviewed by a judge and he’d take every effort to “block, interfere and interrupt” unconstitutional actions. Bird gave Marx a retraction to post online by 5 p.m. yesterday. The attorney general says the sheriff’s refusal to do so gave her no choice but to take the case to court.
Neither the county nor the sheriff have commented on the lawsuit. However, earlier today Sheriff Marx announced his February post on Facebook had been removed, but Bird’s proposed retraction statement was “not acceptable to the county.”
The sheriff said he has been and will remain in compliance with state and federal immigration laws, “while staying true to the constitutional protections afforded to the citizens of Winneshiek County.”
Winneshiek County stands to lose all state funding if it winds up on the losing side of the case.