DES MOINES, Iowa — The Trump administration moved on Friday to dismiss lawsuits against Iowa and Oklahoma filed by the Biden administration’s Department of Justice, which challenged the states’ immigration laws, which make it a crime to be in the state if you are in the United States illegally.
Republican governors and lawmakers nationwide had accused then-President Joe Biden of failing to enforce federal immigration law and manage the southern border.
In response, Iowa and Oklahoma passed similar legislation that allows state and local officials to arrest and charge people with outstanding deportation orders or who have previously been removed from or denied admission to the United States. Both laws followed a Texas law.
The Biden administration sued Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma over their respective laws. Texas’ more expansive law was only in effect for a few confusing hours last March before a federal appeals court halted it.
The Iowa and Oklahoma laws have been put on hold while courts determine whether they unconstitutionally usurp federal immigration authority.
“The Biden administration’s absurd opposition to (Oklahoma’s law) was particularly frustrating since it was the White House’s gross negligence on border security that had made the state law so necessary in the first place,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement on Friday.
Trump ran for office on a promise to crack down on illegal immigration and deport many people living in the United States illegally, which he fulfilled with executive orders issued during his first week in office that contradicted the previous administration’s legal position in both cases.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird described the Trump administration’s decision to dismiss as a “major victory” for Iowans.
“Today, President Trump, again, proved that he has Iowa’s back and showcased his commitment to Making America Safe Again by dropping Biden’s ridiculous lawsuit,” Bird wrote in a press release.
An immigrant rights organization also sued Iowa over its law in May, but the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals recently issued a decision complicating the legal battle now that the Trump administration has withdrawn the federal government’s complaint.
The appellate court ruled that the lawsuit filed by the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice should be dismissed by the district court judge because the U.S. v. Iowa case rendered it moot. Rita Bettis Austin, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, said in a statement Friday that they planned to continue fighting to prevent Iowa’s law from going into effect.
“With today’s DOJ filing, we remain steadfast in our commitment to working to keep this harmful law from being enforced in Iowa,” Austin said.
In February, lawyers representing the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice petitioned the appellate court for a rehearing.