Ayrton Breckenridge
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks during Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' Caucus Night Watch Party at the Sheraton in West Des Moines on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Republican voters assembled statewide to participate in the caucuses despite the cold and extreme winter weather across the state. Former President Donald Trump won the caucuses in a dominant and early fashion with 51 percent support from Republicans while DeSantis trailed in second with 21 percent as of 11:15 p.m. Around 250 people showed up to listen to DeSantis. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Daily Iowan)
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 2340 Wednesday. The bill makes illegal reentry after being removed from the U.S. a state crime, allowing state and local law enforcement to arrest undocumented immigrants and the state judges to order their removal to a port of entry.
Reynolds’ approval of the bill comes as federal lawmakers are unable to agree on reforms to address the influx of illegal border crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
While federal lawmakers are at a stalemate, states have attempted to take matters into their own hands. Texas passed a law similar to this legislation in 2023 but was later blocked by court battles between the state and the Biden administration on whether states have constitutional jurisdiction to enforce immigration laws.
Reynolds has sent Iowa National Guardsmen and Iowa State Patrol officers to the border several times to assist Texas in its Operation Lone Star mission to secure the border.
“The Biden Administration has failed to enforce our nation’s immigration laws, putting the protection and safety of Iowans at risk,” Reynolds said in a news release Wednesday. “Those who come into our country illegally have broken the law, yet Biden refuses to deport them. This bill gives Iowa law enforcement the power to do what he is unwilling to do: enforce immigration laws already on the books.”