A Republican lawmaker says he is likely to reintroduce legislation that would require local and state governments to cooperate with federal immigration authorities if existing immigration laws are not enforced by Iowa City. In the last legislative session, a bill was unsuccessfully filed by Denison Representative, Steven Holt, which would have forced local officials to cooperate with immigration officers.
Holt says that he would have no choice but to introduce the bill again. This time in a legislature controlled by the Republican Party, if Iowa City’s City Council gives its approval to a resolution that would prevent funds from being spent on the enforcement of immigration laws. This is according to a report from the Des Moines Register.
Jim Throgmorton, the Mayor of Iowa City, says that the election of Donald Trump as the new President brought the issue into focus, with Trump’s stated desire to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the US and to build a wall on the border between the US and Mexico. Although city officials are resisting the idea of calling Iowa City an official ‘sanctuary city’, a resolution is being drafted by a city attorney, Eleanor Dilkes. If approved by the Council, this would prevent resources, such as law enforcement, from enforcing federal immigration laws.
Holt says the city needs to obey the law and that they do not get to decide which laws they will and won’t obey. The next legislative session in Iowa begins on Monday.