A federal judge has temporarily blocked Iowa from enforcing a new law that criminalizes illegal immigrants who have been denied entry into the United States and mandates that state judges order their return to their country of origin.
U.S. District Judge Stephen H. Locher ruled on May 17 that Senate File 2340, signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, in April, is preempted by federal immigration law.
“As a matter of politics, the new legislation might be defensible. As a matter of constitutional law, it is not,” Judge Locher wrote in his decision.
The decision comes after Ms. Reynolds vowed to enforce the law even though the Department of Justice (DOJ) threatened a lawsuit to block it last month….