Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has opened an investigation into whether Winneshiek County’s sheriff violated state law requiring law enforcement to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainment requests.
Sheriff Dan Marx vowed in a Tuesday Facebook post that his office would “make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt” ICE’s efforts.
“If their actions or paperwork are not within constitutional parameters (such as non-judicially vetted ‘detainers,’ which are very different than warrants and are simply an unconstitutional ‘request’ from ICE or other three letter federal agency to arrest or hold someone), then we will make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt their actions from moving forward,” he declared.
Detainers, The Des Moines Register summarized, “are requests from ICE to federal, state or local law enforcement to hold a person for up to 48 hours beyond the time they would ordinarily be released. The Department of Homeland Security uses that holding time to determine whether the person should be taken into federal custody and deported.”
However, Iowa officials argue Marx overstepped by defying the governor’s directives and also violating a 2018 law that requires local law enforcement agencies to comply with detainer requests.
Gov. Kim Reynolds responded with an open statement of her own:
“Iowa law provides a sheriff shall not adopt or enforce a policy or take any other action under which the sheriff prohibits or discourages the enforcement of immigration laws. Iowa law further requires that a sheriff shall not prohibit or discourage a law enforcement officer from assisting or cooperating with a federal immigration officer as reasonable or necessary, including providing enforcement assistance.”
ICE has arrested more than 7,400 people in nine days across several states amid its aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration since the new Trump administration came into office.
ICE officers have been seen carrying out raids of homes, work sites and other establishments, while deportations have also ramped up, with the Trump administration also vowing to send the most violent migrants to Guantánamo Bay.
According to a compilation of daily totals of arrests, as of Jan. 31, ICE has so far arrested 7,412 people who the agency says are in the country illegally. The agency says that nearly 6,000 ICE detainers have been placed on individuals.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan has threatened to prosecute officials who openly defy the Administration’s immigration policies.
In November, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) said he was willing to face arrest. (RELATED: Tom Homan Responds To Denver Mayor’s Claim Of Being Willing To Go To Jail Over Sanctuary City Policies)
“Yeah, I’m not afraid of that, and I’m also not seeking that,” he said. “I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people [on] how to solve hard problems.”
Johnston’s willingness to resist federal immigration law and face arrest sparked a sharp rebuke from Homan, who served as the acting director of ICE under President Trump. Appearing on Fox News with Sean Hannity, Homan asserted that Johnston’s stance violated federal law and cited the Supreme Court case Arizona v. U.S. as evidence of the legality of the administration’s policies.
“You are absolutely breaking the law,” Homan told Hannity, directly addressing the mayor. “All he has to do is look at Arizona v. U.S., and he would see he’s breaking the law. But, look, me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing. He’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail.”
Homan also recently threatened New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) who claimed to be harboring and illegal migrant. (RELATED: Border Czar Threatens To Imprison Governor Allegedly Harboring Illegal Immigrant)
Last weekend, Gov. Murphy said publicly that a friend in his circle was struggling with her immigration status so he decided “let’s have her live at our house above our garage.”
“And good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her,” the Democrat then added, speaking at an open discussion at Montclair State University.
On Monday, Murphy’s office walked back the comment and told the New York Post he had been “misinterpreted” and there was no one living above his garage.
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Lock them all up
Sending the Illegal Alien criminals to GITMO opens up a lot of jail cells in the USA, which can be then filled with Liberal Mayors, Governors, Police Chiefs and Sheriffs who don’t want to obey United States Law!
He was NOT misinterpreted. He may have been lying.
In this case, the response is not adequate. This sheriff has publicly declared he is and will continue to break the law. He has further declared that he is encouraging officers under him to do the same. At a minimum, he should be immediately suspended pending an investigation.
Aiding and abetting criminal invaders (ie illegal aliens) is treason.
And should be punished as such!
Boo hoo Murphy get a real life come here legally or stay where you came from.
This is not a hard decision! If they are in the US illegally, they are criminals and need to go home. Easy!!