Federal Court Temporarily Halts Iowa's Anti-Immigrant SF 2340

A federal court has temporarily blocked Iowa's anti-immigrant SF 2340. The ruling is here: https://www.aclu.org/cases/iowa-migrant-mov…r-justice-v-bird

The ruling stems from a lawsuit recently filed by the American Immigration Council, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, and the national ACLU on behalf of Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and the thousands of immigrants that the organization assists, including two individual Iowans.

The following is reaction to today's ruling:

Emma Winger, deputy legal director at the American Immigration Council:

“The court was right to block this cruel and blatantly unconstitutional law. If it had been allowed to go into effect, it would have meant that even people currently living in the U.S. lawfully could have been arrested, imprisoned, and forced to leave the country.

“Sadly, we are still seeing copycat laws and proposed measures that would cause irreparable harm for immigrant families, including in Arizona, Texas, and Oklahoma. These types of laws create absolute chaos and human suffering and have no place in our legal system.”

Rita Bettis Austen, ACLU of Iowa legal director:

"Today’s order means the law cannot be enforced for now while the case is litigated. We are relieved and grateful for the court’s decision which for the time being blocks SF2340, among the worst anti-immigrant legislation in Iowa’s history and which exposed even lawful immigrants, and even children, to serious harms—arrest, detention, deportation, family separation, and incarceration, by the state.

"The court powerfully and accurately found that the law is 'untenable.' This state law conflicts with federal law and dumps the responsibility of immigration enforcement on state and local law enforcement and judges. Local law enforcement in Iowa have spoken up to say that they don't want this duty, given the significant ways that such enforcement would erode the ability of local law enforcement to protect public safety."