
CV NEWS FEED // A district court judge has temporarily blocked a state immigration law that Iowa Catholic bishops opposed.
On June 17, Judge Stephen Locher, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, granted a preliminary injunction on the law, Senate File 2340 (SF 2340), stopping it from going into effect.
As CatholicVote previously reported, the law “allows judges in Iowa to deport people who are not US citizens or nationals and who have previously been denied admission to the US or been deported. If the person committed a felony or at least two misdemeanors that involved drugs or crimes against a person, the person must first serve time in prison and pay a fine.”
The Iowa Catholic Conference of Bishops expressed objections to SF 2340 in a May 1 statement, arguing that measures like this legislation “place a disproportionate emphasis on punitive sanctions, undermine family unity, reduce humanitarian protections, and provide no viable solutions for long-time residents without legal status.”
On June 9, Bishop William Joensen of the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines led a prayer vigil in opposition to SF 2340, and over 100 people attended.
SF 2340 was set to go into effect July 1, but Locher issued the preliminary injunction against SF 2340 in a ruling on two legal cases.
Following Locher’s decision, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a statement arguing that the injunction leaves states “defenseless to the ongoing crisis at our southern border.”
“Plainly, the Biden administration is failing to do their job and enforce federal immigration laws allowing millions to enter and re-enter without any consequence or delay,” Reynolds continued. “I signed this bill into law to protect Iowans and our communities from the results of this border crisis: rising crime, overdose deaths, and human trafficking.”
Reynolds noted that she supports Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s plan to appeal the decision.
“Since Biden refuses to secure our borders, he has left states with no choice but to do the job for him,” Bird stated in a June 17 news release.
“Iowa never would have had to pass this law to begin with if it weren’t for Biden’s open borders,” Bird added. “Rather than suing Iowa for enforcing immigration laws, he should do his duty to secure the border.”
