Trump administration moves to dismiss lawsuits against Iowa and Oklahoma
over immigration laws
[March 17, 2025]
By HANNAH FINGERHUT
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday moved to
dismiss lawsuits against Iowa and Oklahoma brought by the Biden
administration’s Department of Justice, which challenged the states'
immigration laws making it a crime for someone to be in the state if
they are in the U.S. illegally.
Republican governors and lawmakers across the country had accused
then-President Joe Biden of failing to enforce federal immigration law
and manage the southern border.
In response, Iowa and Oklahoma enacted similar laws that let state and
local officials arrest and charge people who have outstanding
deportation orders or who previously were removed from or denied
admission to the U.S. Both laws followed one enacted in Texas.
The Biden administration sued Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma over the
respective laws. Texas' more expansive law was in effect for only a few
confusing hours last March before a federal appeals court put it on
hold.
The Iowa and Oklahoma laws have themselves been on hold while courts
consider 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 pledge to crack down on illegal immigration
and deport many who are living in the U.S. illegally, promises he acted
on with executive orders during his first week in office that conflicted
with the prior administration's legal position in the two cases.
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People listen to a speaker during an Iowa Movement for Migrant
Justice rally and march, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Des Moines,
Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird described the Trump
administration's move to dismiss 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 said in a statement.
An immigrant rights group also sued Iowa last May over its law, but
the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals recently issued a decision
that complicates the legal battle now that the Trump administration
has withdrawn the federal government’s complaint.
The appellate court said the lawsuit filed by Iowa Migrant Movement
for Justice should be dismissed by the district court judge, arguing
the U.S. v. Iowa lawsuit made it moot. Rita Bettis Austen, the legal
director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, said in a
statement Friday they intended to continue fighting to keep Iowa's
law from taking effect.
“With today's DOJ filing, we remain steadfast in our commitment to
working to keep this harmful law from being enforced in Iowa,”
Bettis Austen said.
Lawyers representing Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice in February
filed a petition for rehearing with the appellate court.
___
Associated Press reporter Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed.
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