Gov. Kim Reynolds signed 17 bills into law Tuesday, including controversial legislation to impose financial sanctions against local governments that fail to cooperate with federal officials in enforcing immigration laws in Iowa.
The legislation imposes financial sanctions against local governments that backers say are providing sanctuary to potentially illegal immigrants rather than cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in enforcing federal laws in Iowa Backers say the legislation was enacted to address situations that arise when federal immigration officials believe someone in custody is in the country illegally and subject to deportation. The measure also would discourage sanctuary cities or sanctuary counties in Iowa.
The governor also signed House File 2297, a measure designed to eliminate an estimated 7,600 certifications and 1,400 inspections at buildings for public use or access, such as rental structures and small businesses.
Immigration Deal Requires another Push, Graham Says
On Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham said that the immigration deal should be reached “by the spring, early summer.” He told ABC’s This Week: “There’s a deal to take care of them and get the border wall we desperately need, plus interior enforcement to make us safer. That deal can be done, and I’ll make a prediction on this show that there’ll be another effort to marry up border security and DACA.”
According to Graham, this deal is critical. He hopes that the courts will grant President Trump the authority to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Graham also added that persistence is key. He said: “It may fail, but I believe we owe it to the American people to try again. And I think the president is open-minded to trying again.”
According to Graham only comprehensive immigration reform can put a stop to illegal border crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border. He believes that sending National Guard troops “makes some sense,” but that is not a long-term solution to the problem.
House Speaker Ryan Touts Farm, Immigration Bills
House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Thursday he would like to see action this year on a rewrite of U.S. farm policy and legislation protecting young, undocumented immigrants from deportation, despite signs both are likely to stall. “I want to get this done this spring,” Ryan said at a news conference, referring to possible House passage of a farm bill with changes to nutrition assistance programs that is expected to face deep opposition.
On immigration, Ryan said he “would like to see a border security solution” paired with the immigration measure, but he said Democrats should accept a plan that they already rejected.
Immigrants in Texas Are Among the Least Likely to Have a Lawyer, Most Likely to Get Deported
As the White House continues to expand deportations and push measures to curb illegal immigration, many Texas immigrants are forced to navigate the immigration system without the help of an attorney. From October 2000 through February 2018, less than 30% of immigrants in deportation proceedings in Texas had representation, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. That rate is one of the lowest in the country.
Because immigration violations are largely civil in nature, undocumented immigrants in deportation proceedings aren’t guaranteed the right to an attorney. That also includes immigrants who turned themselves in to authorities and are seeking asylum.
Groups Want Immigration Officials to Stop Detaining Pregnant Women
More than 250 organizations sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday asking the agency to reverse a policy change that makes it easier to detain pregnant women.
The letter was signed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the American Immigration Council and other civil, human rights and healthcare organizations. “We urge ICE to discontinue its policy of detaining pregnant individuals, who should be able to access the critical healthcare services they need and instead release them to continue their cases outside of detention,” the letter said.
The letter cited cases of women who have suffered miscarriages and other health problems due to a lack of adequate and timely treatment while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Last fall, organizations filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security for its practice of detaining pregnant women.
Canada’s Tech Companies Are Benefiting from Tightening U.S. Immigration
Many U.S. tech companies oppose the Trump administration’s tightening of immigration policies, which have included reviewing specialty visa programs, stepping up deportation efforts and cracking down on sanctuary cities. Executives from Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Apple have all complained that these actions will cost them valuable talent. Tech companies in Canada, however, aren’t complaining.
Last year, technology companies in the Toronto region saw a spike in job applicants from abroad, thanks, in part, to stricter immigration rules in the United States and other countries.
One tech worker who left Silicon Valley to work in Canada isn’t surprised. Ian Logan, a vice president of engineering at a Toronto-based tech company, told Venture Beat that he’s heard from “around 10 to 15″ people whom he knew in California who are considering moving back to Canada.
ICE Raids Reportedly Detain 10 People in Orange County
Federal immigration officials reportedly picked up 10 people this week in Orange and Chatham counties, according to local officials and Hispanic community advocates.
Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle issued a statement Thursday morning confirming the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
One man, who had an 8-year-old DWI conviction, was arrested while taking out the trash, said Andrew Willis Garces, an organizing coordinator for Siembra NC. Others were picked up while ICE agents were looking for other Hispanic people they had come to arrest, said Ilana Dubester, with Hispanic Liasion in Siler City.
Hispanic Liasion, El Centro Hispano (The Hispanic Center) and Siembra NC, a Greensboro-based immigrant group, is connecting some of those who were detained and their families with financial and legal help. All have been taken to a detention center in Georgia.
As Immigration Arrests Rise, Advocates Warn Immigrants to Know Their Rights When Agents Show Up
Suspected undocumented immigrants have the same constitutional rights as citizens, but the standards for civil arrests are much more lenient than in criminal cases. In other words, federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement do not follow the same standards as other law enforcement agencies to protect people from unreasonable search and seizure by the government.
“Local, state and federal law enforcement agents in every jurisdiction in the United States follow this Constitution procedure every day and have since the Fourth Amendment was added to the Constitution,” says César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a University of Denver law professor. “In contrast, ICE does not follow this procedure.”
García also said that ICE is working on the assumption that the people they target don’t know their rights under the Constitution, that they don’t know the difference between a warrant signed by a judge and other documents ICE may show as proof that they are allowed to enter someone’s home.
Judge Bars Immigration Enforcement Criteria for Police Grant
A federal judge issued a nationwide injunction Thursday barring the U.S. Justice Department from giving priority status for multimillion-dollar community policing grants to departments that agree to cooperate with immigration officials. The ruling came after Los Angeles (a sanctuary city) filed a request for the injunction.
“This is yet another dagger in the heart of the administration’s efforts to use federal funds as a weapon to make local jurisdictions complicit in its civil immigration enforcement policies,” Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer dijo.
The Justice Department called the ruling “overbroad and inconsistent with the rule of law” and vowed to defend its position.
Johnson County Officials Bash Sanctuary City Law, Plan to Fight It
On Tuesday, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 481, a law that targets sanctuary cities. Under the law, cities or counties that violate federal immigration law would have state funding revoked.
The resolution’s intent, said City Manager Geoff Fruin on Wednesday, was to express the city’s belief in diversity and embrace the immigrant community here. The resolution did not change how law enforcement operated. As a result, Fruin said he doubts this new law will affect Iowa City or put it at risk of losing funding.
