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Iowa Defies DOJ Threat Over Immigration Law


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“How dare you!” cries the DOJ, noticing that the State of Iowa has a new immigration law criminalizing illegal reentry.

Iowa needs to roll out the red carpet these invaders!

But it looks like Iowa isn’t backing down.

A DOJ official sends a warning shot over Iowa’s new immigration law, but Governor Kim Reynolds isn’t having it.

So what’s Iowa’s response?

A firm “nope” to DOJ demands.

Good on them!

RedState reports:

On Thursday, a “top official” at the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote to Iowa’s Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa’s Attorney General Brenna Bird threatening the state with legal action over Iowa’s new law dealing with illegal immigration. Iowa’s response has been, in effect, to tell the DOJ that they will not comply.

The U.S. Department of Justice will sue Iowa to block a new immigration law criminalizing “illegal reentry” if it remains in effect, a top DOJ official wrote to Gov. Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird Thursday.

In a letter obtained by the Des Moines Register, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton wrote that the department “intends to bring a lawsuit to enforce the supremacy of federal law and to enjoin” the new immigration law passed as Senate File 2340.

“SF 2340 is preempted by federal law and violates the United States Constitution,” Boynton wrote.

He gave the state a deadline of May 7 to suspend enforcement of the law before the DOJ takes action.

The Republican governor laid out the reasons Iowa passed the law, and stated that the state will continue to enforce it:

Reynolds retorted that Iowa needed the law because of the Biden administration’s poor record on immigration.

“The only reason we had to pass this law is because the Biden administration refuses to enforce the laws already on the books,” Reynolds said in a statement provided to the Register. “I have a duty to protect the citizens of Iowa. Unlike the federal government, we will respect the rule of law and enforce it.”

Iowa’s Attorney General, also a Republican, responded quickly and emphatically:

The attorney general said in a statement that “Iowa will not back down.”

“Not only has Biden refused to enforce federal immigration laws and secure our border, he is now threatening to block states like Iowa from enforcing our own laws,” Bird said. “Our message to Biden is this: Iowa will not back down and stand by as our state’s safety hangs in the balance. If Biden refuses to stop the border invasion and keep our communities safe, Iowa will do the job for him.”

All this boils down to this: Iowa is telling the Justice Department where to head in. Illegal immigration is a serious issue – perhaps the serious issue – facing the nation now, and the Biden administration is bending every effort to not take it seriously, except when they are insulting Japan, the best ally the United States has in the Pacific, over the same issue.

The Daily Wire adds:

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) warned Iowa that it will sue the state if it enforces a recently passed law that seeks to crack down on illegal immigration.

The DOJ’s warning comes after Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed legislation last month that would make illegal reentry into the state an aggravated misdemeanor, empowering the state to arrest illegal immigrants.

“The Biden administration has failed to enforce our nation’s immigration laws, putting the protection and safety of Iowans at risk,” Reynolds said after first signing the legislation. “Those who come into our country illegally have broken the law, yet Biden refuses to deport them.”

The Biden DOJ’s Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton responded to the legislation with a letter to Governor Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird, giving the state until May 7 to suspend the enforcement of the new law before the federal government steps in. Boynton argued that Iowa’s new law “is preempted by federal law and violates the United States Constitution” and that it “effectively creates a separate state immigration scheme,” which “intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government and is preempted.”

The state’s Attorney General Brenna Bird signaled that Iowa will not capitulate to the Biden administration’s request. “Iowa will not back down and stand by as our state’s safety hangs in the balance. If Biden refuses to stop the border invasion and keep our communities safe, Iowa will do the job for him.”



 

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