Legal Status
In our system of governance, we have a balance between rights retained by states, and those given to the federal government. Each is supposed to “stay in their lane,” as the saying goes.
At its broadest level, the federal government is to protect citizens from external threats, in theory from other nations. States can take care of things within their own borders.
On the most basic service all government provides, safety for its citizens, neither the federal government or state governments have exclusivity. All are to act in the public interest in that regard.
So despite what some may claim, it is not inconsistent for a state like Iowa to pass a law regarding what is and is not criminal activity. That’s why Iowa new law, signed yesterday by the governor and which goes into effect July 1st, is legal in my view.
The new law makes it a crime in Iowa for a person to be in our state if that person was previously denied admission to this country, or previously removed from the country—deported. It is similar to a Texas law, meaning if you are in the country in violation of a federal deportation order, that in and of itself is a state crime in Iowa. Currently, those individuals who are here illegally are reported to federal authorities…with very little then happening under the current administration.
To be fair, state officials reporting those here illegally to federal authorities has been going on in Iowa for 40 years, but the feds have not always been able to take action to remove the person…and that was before the current open borders, look-the-other-way policy.
Now, state law enforcement can take action to detain the person on new charges. That person can agree to a judge’s order to leave the U.S., or else face prosecution on the new state charge.
Obviously, this puts an additional burden on already busy law enforcement folks and courts. But at least now they have legal authority to take someone who is here illegally for at least the second time—after having been deported or blocked at least once already—and get that person off the streets.
How many stories have we heard about folks who commit crimes after having been deported multiple times in the past? They keep coming back, and some commit serious crimes. This law is simply a step toward protecting the public from those proven bad actors.
Sure, it will be challenged, and therefore delayed…but at least state officials are doing something to stop the problem…as opposed to those in Washington actively making it worse.
