Justice Department sues Iowa over immigration law after warning

The Justice Department sued the state of Iowa on Thursday, after the state failed to stop a new immigration law that makes it a crime for people to be in the state if they were previously denied admission to the United States.

The lawsuit is the second legal action taken against the state over the new law, which goes into effect in July. The first was a lawsuit from a civil rights group that was filed earlier Thursday. The department warned Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds that it would sue last week if she did not stop the law by May 7. 

The department claimed that the law is unconstitutional because it allegedly violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, and impedes on the federal government's immigration authority.

“Iowa cannot disregard the U.S. Constitution and settled Supreme Court precedent,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton said in a statement. “We have brought this action to ensure that Iowa adheres to the framework adopted by Congress and the Constitution for regulation of immigration.”   

Iowa's SF 2340 was signed by Reynolds last month, and criminalizes a person's being in the state if they were previously not allowed in the United States, or if they currently have deportation orders. If arrested and convicted, a judge can have the individual deported back to their home country. But if the person is not deported, they could be sentenced to two years in prison if it is classified as a misdemeanor, or up to 10 years if it is a felony and they have been arrested before.

Reynolds said she would not back down on the law, and the state attorney general has also maintained that she would enforce the new immigration law, despite the warning last week.

“As governor, I have a responsibility to protect the citizens of Iowa," Reynolds said in a statement responding to the first lawsuit. "Since President Biden refuses to enforce our nation’s immigration laws – threatening the safety of our citizens – Iowa will step in.” 

Reynolds has not issued a separate statement in response to the new DOJ lawsuit.

The Justice Department said the new law violates a Supreme Court ruling that determined decisions relating to removal of "noncitizens from the United States touch 'on foreign relations and must be made with one voice.'”

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department.