Governor Reynolds Signs SF 2340 making unlawful presence a new crime in Iowa

The bill's enforcement will start July 1st.

Governor Reynolds signed HF 2340 on April 8th, which takes a person here unlawfully on a federal basis, and turns them into state criminals.

This bill passed on a straight party line vote with Brad Zaun, Amy Sinclair, and all the other Republicans voting for this.

According to the American Immigration Council, there are estimated to be at least 27,561 Iowa residents who have family members unlawfully present. The number is likely much higher now.

The state GOP just arbitrarily made these loved family members into criminals beginning on July 1st.

The state does not have the right to override the Federal Government, we were told back in the days when things more or less seemed to follow long established constitutional guidelines.

We are a Federal Union of states, not a loose confederacy of states, isn’t this what our history books still say?

Also, the Iowa bill seems to be oversimplified and doesn’t take into account all the possible likely scenarios. For example what if an immigrant who filed for permanent residence was denied due to a small administrative technicality?

They would now be subject to this state law as they try to figure out all legal options to stay, according to the FEDERAL immigration system. What if this non-citizen later files again for a different visa type, and this time is approved and their prior inadmissibility waived?

This is normally great news, because it means past acts such as unlawful presence and other grounds for inadmissibility are now officially waived.

It could be 5 years later by the time this gets decided. Will this family still be together in 5 years, after the Reynolds splitting apart families bill has been enacted?

And if they're still here, by some miracle, does the federal waiver for inadmissibility apply also to the state's criminal charge? Or is the immigrant still a criminal in Iowa even after their transgression has been waived federally?

What a surprise, there is nothing to address this conflict between federal and state law in the new bill. So we all get to guess how it may be decided in courts eventually.

Here in Iowa, if an immigrant was denied admission upon ending their interview at the Federal Building in Des Moines, that alone is enough for a state criminal charge.

There are no chances for a deportation defense in a state court system following such a law. Especially with state judges who have no prior immigrantion law experience.

They would normally have some time to plan the next best move for their family. But now this Iowa family has just been given one more thing to worry about by their own state government.

Maybe the federal government’s case for removal wasn’t strong enough. Or maybe there were a lot of mistakes made by the immigration officer. Maybe it's a mother with a small baby, who was not considered an immediate priority for removal by the federal government.

Now they will be criminals in Iowa, where state law is now in conflict with, and more strict than the existing federal law. Because the over-simplified state law doesn't allow for any of those nuances.

Governor Reynolds was looking cross and sounding very stern while sending Biden scolding and condescending messages in front of the cameras.

The state does not have the right to override the Federal Government, we were told back in the days when things worked (mostly) as they should have. The state judges have no prior knowledge or training in immigration. They’re not immigration judges. This was a political stunt done on the taxpayers dime. It’s unlikely to be legal.

Her scorn and mocking of Biden was also mixing her job as Governor with politics. Political grandstanding at its best,

“The Biden Administration has failed to enforce our nation’s immigration laws, putting the protection and safety of Iowans at risk. 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,” Governor Kim Reynolds

Oh, has he failed? Here’s a fact the governor didn’t mention. In 2023, there were over 1.2M deportations under the Biden administration. This is by far higher than any year Trump was in office. Trump deportation numbers averaged around 0.5M per year. Did I mention political grandstanding?

Also, she seems to be mixed up in her facts, because the Iowa law does not do what the federal law does, as she claims. She's lying when stating this will be enforcing, “…immigration laws already on the books.” No, these are brand new state level criminal charges. Nothing else like this has even been attempted at the state level besides the similar Texas bill, now already enjoined by the courts.

SF 2340 results in a person committing an offense if they enter, attempt to enter or is at any time found in this state if the person has been previously denied admission to the country.

This would result in the crime being classified as an aggravated misdemeanor or possibly a felony, depending on other details.

There are things that were not at all clear to me as I read the bill. But when all is considered, it seems to be a green light to local law enforcement to inquire the immigration status, and attempt to make a determination on whether the person is lawfully present or not. This is the important part people need to realize.

This may be a newlywed spouse of an Iowa resident that is going through this with their entire young family.

This would normally give them time to plan the next best move for their family. But now, this Iowa family has just been given one more thing to worry about by the state government.

Here in Iowa, the immigrant had their green card interview at the Federal Building in Des Moines. The immigrant was denied admission as a result of that interview. Which has always only resulted in a civil penalty federally, in the past, after 33 days.

Now the denial alone may be enough for a state criminal charge. There are no chances for a deportation defense in a state court system following such a law, and there’s no prior immigration experience among the state court officials.

Maybe the federal government’s case for removal was not strong enough. Or maybe there were a lot of mistakes made. Maybe it's a mother with a baby, who was not considered an immediate priority for removal by the federal government.

Now they will be criminals in Iowa, where state law is now in conflict with, and more strict than, the existing federal law.

Governor Reynold’s cross looking and scolding message in front of the cameras? That was political theater at its finest. She’s smarter than this. She’s wasting taxpayer money, pushing an illegal bill for purely political reasons. Then, she will waste more of our money in an attempt to defend this family killing bill in court.

These are families that are already alive and some may be from disadvantaged backgrounds. She will show all of us. She has no qualms with splitting apart families. Please don't let anyone con you into believing the GOP is the party that stands for family values.

Her theater grade is almost as low as the grade that I assign her job performance as a state governor.