Iowa
Iowa defends immigration law that allows local officials to arrest people told to leave US
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa defended its new immigration law on Monday and argued that the state’s ability to file criminal charges against people did not infringe on federal authority over immigration because local officials would abide by all federal regulations.
Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of civil rights groups are seeking a temporary or permanent injunction of the law, which goes into effect July 1 unless it’s blocked by the courts. The law is similar to one in Texas, which has been temporarily blocked, and another in Oklahoma that the DOJ is seeking to stop.
U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher said “I’ll do my best” to rule quickly on the injunction request. Locher noted the likelihood his ruling would be appealed, calling it the “first step along this journey.”
The Iowa law would allow criminal charges to be brought against people who have outstanding deportation orders or who previously have been removed from or denied admission to the U.S. Once in custody, migrants could either agree to a judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted, potentially facing time in prison before deportation.
Patrick Valencia, Iowa’s deputy solicitor general, told the judge that the state’s law wouldn’t establish new immigration rules but only allow state law enforcement and courts to apply federal law.
“We have a law that adopts the federal standard,” Valencia said.
The lawyers seeking an injunction countered that the Iowa law, approved by state legislators in the last legislative session, said the new rules without question violate the federal government’s sole authority over immigration matters.
“It’s clearly a federal responsibility,” said Christopher Eiswerth, a DOJ attorney.
Eiswerth and Emma Winger, representing the American Immigration Council, said the state law doesn’t make exceptions for people who have been deported before but now are in the country legally, such as those seeking asylum.
Valencia denied that, saying if someone is legally in Iowa under federal rules, the state will not prosecute them.
The law is similar but less expansive than a Texas law, which was in effect for only a few confusing hours in March before it was put on hold by a federal appeals court’s three-judge panel.
Some law enforcement officials and legal experts have said unanswered questions remain about how the law in Iowa would be implemented, since enforcement of immigration law has historically fallen to the federal government and is a binational process.
In court documents, that state said law enforcement would contact the federal government to determine a person’s immigration status since Iowa “does not maintain an independent immigration database.”
It’s up to federal authorities to determine if the person is violating federal law, the state argued. If that’s the case, the state said the person is violating Iowa’s law, too.
While the federal lawsuit alleged that Iowa was interfering with the deportation process and foreign relations by ordering someone to leave, Iowa said the law — Senate File 2340 — only allows Iowa officials to bring migrants “to federal immigration officers at one of Iowa’s ports of entry.”
“Under SF2340, federal officials retain their discretion to offer asylum or other removal relief at U.S. ports of entry,” the state argued, adding that the federal government would still decide where people should be sent if they are deported from Iowa.
Outside the hearing, more than 100 people held signs and listened to brief speeches in Spanish and English that opposed the new law and called for people to care for each other.
Erica Johnson, executive director of the Iowa Migrant Move for Justice, said the country needs a workable immigration system but that the Iowa law worsens matters.
“It’s unworkable. It’s creating fear and driving misinformation in immigrant communities around our state,” Johnson said. “Supporters of the law say they passed it because they were tired of the way the federal government was handling immigration but this law is no solution to that.”
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Mark Roering returned to Iowa City Regina 30 years after serving as an assistant coach, and in just two seasons, he has transformed the Regals into one of Class 2A’s most dangerous teams.
“I was a senior in college. I just had finished playing baseball myself and was doing high school in the summers. Had one of those magical seasons here losing in the state finals,” Roering said. “I was just ready for something new.”
Prior to being hired at Iowa City Regina in 2024, Roering coached nine seasons at Dowling Catholic, where he helped the Maroons reach the state tournament six times. Regina was below .500 in three of the four seasons before his arrival. His first season at the helm, Regina went 22-6.
“I think the biggest difference is practice. Everybody is so much more locked in. Really that just comes from him. He gets on us everyday, he has to make the drive and hour and a half every day so we want to give that back to him for all the time and effort he’s put into us,” junior Trey Streb said.
Streb also described Roering as a very emotional coach who cares deeply about the team and winning.
The Regals’ bats have become a significant threat. Regina ranks fifth in the state and second in Class 2A with a .379 batting average and has the fourth fewest strikeouts among state teams.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced and it’s been super competitive and it’s nice to be with people who want to win and will do whatever it takes to win,” senior Emmett Burke said.
The team already sits at 20 wins with eight regular season games remaining.
Roering said the transformation comes when players start believing they can win in any situation.
“Winning is contagious just like losing is contagious,” Roering said. “Kids they start believing and it gets really dangerous you know that they can win no matter what situation they’re in.”
The turnaround has positioned the Regals to make a postseason run. With only one senior on the roster, the team could remain a threat next season.
“No matter what, we’re going to fight and we’re not going to roll over. We’re going to do what we need to do to win,” Burke said.
“We’re big competitors. We don’t accept defeat and I think that’s one of my favorite parts about this team,” Streb added.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) -Water and wastewater utility rates in Iowa City will increase starting July 1, following a city council decision on May 19.
The water utility rate will increase by 3%, while the wastewater rate will increase by 5%.
The increases are part of a funding model to help recover the costs of providing water and wastewater services to Iowa City residents.
The new rates will take effect in tandem with Iowa City’s 2027 fiscal year and apply to customers served by the Iowa City Water Division and the Iowa City Wastewater Division.
The city said the rate adjustment supports its continued provision of safe and reliable water service.
To learn more about the city’s utilities, visit their website.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
Thrive Iowa launches in Warren County and across the state
The new program aims to reduce barriers to families seeking help from local organizations.
Thrive Iowa, a new initiative from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, has officially launched in a number of counties across the state with the goal of helping struggling Iowa families connect with local resources and build a network of support in their community.
On June 23, Warren County celebrated its own program site launch as one of eight initial sites. Other counties that are celebrating their own site launches are Cass, Lee, Black Hawk, Webster, Buena Vista, Fayette and Clayton. A site is officially launched once it has enrolled a minimum of 20 participants, Iowa HHS Director of Communications Danielle Sample said in a statement.
The eight sites serve 11 counties in total, with services also available in Henry, Madison, and Van Buren counties, according to the Thrive Iowa website.
What is Thrive Iowa?
The initiative is focused on serving families, such as parents, caretakers, and pregnant individuals, according to the program’s website. To be eligible to receive help from the program, families must be living in Iowa, be a U.S. citizen or legal resident, and have an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
The 2026 federal guidelines consider a family of four to be at the 200% threshold if they make $66,000 or less annually.
The program also outlines 13 core areas of well-being where it offers support. These include housing, recovery, employment, transportation, education, mental health, physical health, safety, dental, financial stability, food, child care and legal assistance.
The overall goal of the program is to reduce barriers to accessing support for families by doing the work of finding the right organization to meet their needs for them. Instead of having to reach out to multiple sources, a family can visit the program’s HopeHub, a case management system, to create a free account and receive a referral. Once referred, the individual is connected with a Thrive Navigator who will create a personalized plan and build local connections to assist the family.
Thrive Iowa is modeled after Restore Hope, an Arkansas-based nonprofit that began in 2015 to reduce the number of individuals in incarceration and the foster care system through community-based approaches. In addition to Iowa, this model is also used in Tennessee and Canada, according to the organization’s website.
The Iowa program plans to expand to other counties in the near future, Sample said. In July, Iowa HHS will begin onboarding more participating organizations and counties, expanding the program to serve 22 counties.
Warren County launch pledges to take families from crisis to careers
At the Warren County launch, the county’s initiative coordinator, Sarah Downard, was joined by Iowa State Rep. Brooke Boden, Ben Segebart, senior pastor at Indianola Freedom Fellowship Church, Sue Wilson, executive director of WeLIFT Job Search Center in Indianola, and Paul Chapman, executive director of Restore Hope.
Downard said the Warren County site is currently serving over 20 families.
To a room of around 75 community members and local organizations at The Hive event venue in Indianola, the five speakers emphasized the importance of the mission behind Thrive Iowa, which is collective impact and helping build strong communities through supporting the families that live there.
The group also invited the whole room to sign the site’s declaration of participation in the program, which stated the goals of the program and a pledge to work together to help take families from crisis to career.
“When families are struggling, we feel the impact everywhere,” Boden said. “We see this in our schools, our health care systems, our workplace, and our communities.”
Isabelle Foland is a communities reporter for the Register. Reach her at ifoland@registermedia.com.
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