Iowa

Judge blocks Iowa law allowing state authorities to arrest and deport migrants

Published

9 months ago

June 18, 2024

Judge blocks Iowa law allowing state authorities to arrest and deport migrants

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked Iowa from enforcing a state law that would allow local authorities to arrest, charge and deport migrants who were previously denied entry or deported from the US.

The Biden administration sued Iowa over the new law last month, arguing that the federal government has “exclusive authority under federal law to regulate the entry and removal of noncitizens,” and US District Court Judge Stephen Locher said the Justice Department was likely to prevail in its case when he issued the preliminary injunction.

“As a matter of politics, the new legislation might be defensible,” Locher wrote in his ruling. “As a matter of constitutional law, it is not.”

Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who signed Senate File 2340 into law in April, blasted the judge’s ruling.

“Iowa’s legislation to deter illegal immigration has been BLOCKED – leaving us defenseless to the consequences of Biden’s Open Border,” Reynolds wrote on X.

“More crime, overdose deaths, and human trafficking. All because Biden won’t do his job!” she added.

The law, which was slated to go into effect on July 1, makes it an aggravated misdemeanor offense — punishable by up to two years in prison — for migrants to be in the Hawkeye State if they have outstanding deportation orders, were previously deported or were at one point barred from entering the US.

The crime is elevated to a felony offense if the person’s previous removal orders were related to misdemeanor convictions for drug crimes, crimes against people or any type of felony conviction.

Under the legislation, police are barred from arresting suspected migrants in violation of the law at places of worship, schools or medical facilities.

Arrested individuals may be allowed by a judge to leave the country and not face charges, according to the law’s text.

Biden’s Justice Department has sued Texas and Oklahoma over similar measures.

Texas’ more expansive law, which authorizes state authorities to arrest, jail, prosecute and deport migrants who enter the country between ports of entry, was put on hold by a federal appeals court’s three-judge panel in March.

The DOJ is seeking to block Oklahoma’s law, which makes it a crime to enter Oklahoma without legal authorization to be in the US, as well.

Iowa’s Republican top prosecutor said the state would appeal the preliminary injunction.

“Since Biden refuses to secure our border, he has left states with no choice but to do the job for him,” Attorney General Brenna Bird wrote on X.

“I will be appealing the court’s decision today that blocks IA from stopping illegal reentry and keeping our communities safe,” she added.

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Iowa

Iowa vs. Murray State – First round NCAA tournament extended highlights

Published

10 hours ago

March 22, 2025

Press Room

Iowa vs. Murray State – First round NCAA tournament extended highlights

Women’s Basketball

March 22, 2025

Iowa vs. Murray State – First round NCAA tournament extended highlights

March 22, 2025

Watch the highlights from No. 6 Iowa vs. No. 11 Murray State in the first round of the 2025 women’s NCAA tournament.

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Iowa

Iowa Extends Finalist Streak At 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships – FloWrestling

Published

21 hours ago

March 22, 2025

Press Room

Iowa Extends Finalist Streak At 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships – FloWrestling

It’s been a growth year for Drake Ayala.

Physical growth into a new weight class. Mental growth into a new realm of wrestling freedom and confidence. Growth into an expanded leadership role with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“I think that I’ve just kinda grown up a lot,” Iowa’s junior 133-pounder said Friday night after booking a return trip to the NCAA finals. “I feel like I’m maturing, I’m growing into a leader, I’m growing into just a man.

“Me from last year — this very seat last year to now — it’s just night and day different. It doesn’t matter the weight class. I said at the beginning of the year I wasn’t coming up to 133 to throw my hat in the ring, I’m coming to win it all.”

He’ll get that opportunity Saturday night against top-seeded Lucas Byrd of Illinois. Ayala punched his pass to the finals with a 6-1 victory Friday night against Wisconsin’s Zan Fugitt to assure Iowa of an NCAA finalist for the 35th straight year.

Ayala kept that streak intact last year in Kansas City, where he beat Badger Eric Barnett in the 125-pound NCAA semis before dropping a 7-2 decision in the title bout against Arizona State’s Richard Figueroa.

This year he has a lot more company. Iowa went 3-for-3 in the semifinals as Michael Caliendo and Stephen Buchanan also secured spots in Saturday night’s championship round.

Caliendo built a seven-point cushion in the first two minutes and downed #2 seed Peyton Hall of West Virginia 14-10 at 165 to set up a rematch with Penn State’s top-seeded Mitchell Mesenbrink. The Nittany Lion sophomore has won each of their five previous encounters and notched a pair of technical falls, but the most recent meeting — a 4-1 victory for Mesenbrink in the Big Ten title bout — was their closest match yet.

“I know I can wrestle with him,” Caliendo said. “I know I can take him down. I just haven’t been able to put it all together in one match. I don’t think it’s a matter of skill, I think it’s just a matter of how I approach the match, strategy going into it.”

Buchanan clipped 2021 NCAA champ A.J. Ferrari of Cal State Bakersfield 3-0 at 197, collecting his points on a second-period rideout that yielded a riding-time advantage, a locked hands point early in the third period and an escape shortly thereafter.

“For me, it’s just another match,” said Buchanan, who won for the first time in three career tries against Ferrari. “He comes with a lot of noise, so it was difficult to stay focused, so all the videos that you see online, or whether you’re getting ready for a match right beside him. He’s a talker and he does a good job of it, and he brings in people to the sport. So I can respect him on that front, but from a competitor standpoint, just another match.”

Buchanan will face Penn State freshman Josh Barr in the title bout. The Hawkeye won a 4-1 decision when he battled Barr in January.

“He’s a young cat who can wrestle,” Buchanan said. “He has great coaches behind him, great team. You see him take losses and then come back and win, so that shows that he’s not scared to wrestle on all fronts, in all positions. So just looking forward to the match. I guess my biggest takeaway is he’s a competitor just like I am, and we are going to battle.”

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