The U.S. Department of Justice intends to file a lawsuit against an Iowa law making illegal immigration a state crime if the law remains in effect, a top official wrote in a letter to Gov. Kim Reynolds and state Attorney General Brenna Bird.

First reported by the Des Moines Register, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton said in a letter to the Republican state officials that the federal department “intends to bring a lawsuit to enforce the supremacy of federal law” and enjoin Senate File 2340, blocking it from being enforced.

The Iowa law, signed by Reynolds in April, allows state law enforcement officers to charge people with an aggravated misdemeanor if they have been deported, denied admission or removed from the U.S., or if they have an order to leave the country. People with a criminal history can be charged with higher penalties for being in the country unlawfully under the new measure.

Additionally, state courts are able to order the deportation of people charged, with state agencies and law enforcement having the ability to transport migrants to U.S. ports of entry to ensure they leave the country. People who do not leave as ordered can be charged with a felony for failure to comply.

The law is set to go into effect July 1. However, the federal justice department plans to stop the law from being enforced before that date. In the letter, Boynton gave Reynolds and Bird a deadline of Tuesday to suspend enforcement of the law or the Department of Justice will take action.

“If you have not confirmed by May 7, 2024, that Iowa will forbear such enforcement, the United States intends to pursue all appropriate legal remedies to ensure that Iowa does not interfere with the functions of the federal government,” the letter states.

In the message, Boynton said the Iowa law is “preempted by federal law and violates the United States Constitution,” and that the measure is “contrary” to the federal government’s goal of processing undocumented immigrants in the U.S. in a way that is consistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The state measure conflicts with federal immigration law in several ways, he wrote, including “various provisions of federal law permitting noncitizens to seek protection from removal to avoid persecution or torture,” Boynton wrote, in addition to undermining U.S. foreign relations.

Boynton said the Iowa law “effectively creates a separate state immigration scheme by imposing state criminal penalties for violating the federal prohibition on unlawful reentry into the United States,” and is intruding on the federal government’s oversight of immigration law and enforcement.

However, Reynolds and Bird argued the law is necessary because President Joe Biden and his administration are not enforcing current immigration laws.

“The only reason we had to pass this law is because the Biden Administration refused to enforce the laws already on the books. I have a duty to protect the citizens of Iowa,” Reynolds said in a statement. “Unlike the federal government, we will respect the rule of law and enforce it.”

Bird also criticized Biden in a post on social media about the lawsuit, saying that Iowa “will not back down.”

Not only has Biden refused to enforce federal immigration laws & secure our border, he is now threatening to block states like IA from enforcing our own laws.

Our message to Biden is this: IA will not back down & stand by as our state’s safety hangs in the balance. If Biden…

— Brenna Bird (@BrennaBird) May 3, 2024

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On Wednesday, immigrant advocacy groups rallied across the state in opposition to the new law. Immigrants and allies expressed concerns about the law breaking up families, as well as potentially leading to discrimination against Latino Iowans.

Some law enforcement officers have also brought up concerns about enforcing the law. Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert told the Associated Press in March that Des Moines police forces are “not equipped, funded or staffed” to take on enforcement of immigration laws.

Iowa is not the only state to pass a state-level immigration law. The Iowa law is modeled after a similar 2023 Texas measure also allowing state law enforcement and courts to take action on illegal immigration. The Texas law is currently under a preliminary injunction, having been challenged in federal appeals court by the U.S. Justice Department and civil rights organizations.

Reynolds has sent personnel with Iowa National Guard and Iowa Department of Public Safety to Texas to support the state’s law enforcement efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border in both 2021 and 2023. In March, the governor announced plans to deploy 115 National Guard troops and 10 DPS officers to Texas, taking on duties like assistance with “the Texas Military Department’s security objectives.”

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt also signed a similar measure into law earlier this week that went into effect immediately. The Oklahoma law establishes a crime for “impermissible occupation,” the act of entering the state without legal authorization to be in the country. The first offense is a misdemeanor charge with an order to leave the state within 72 hours, and a second offense would charge someone with a felony, with up to two years in prison if convicted.

A day of organized Israel-Hamas war protests is planned in Iowa City Friday, beginning with a demonstration outside of City High School, followed by a three-day rally on the University of Iowa campus.

The demonstrations take place as student-led protests and encampments have swept across college campuses in America, with participants calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for their respective universities to stop investing endowment money in Israel, among other demands.

This week, protestors at a rally at Iowa State University on May 1 demanded the school cut financial ties with companies that profit from the Israel-Hamas war.

Organizers of the three-day demonstration on the Pentacrest in Iowa City said they are not planning an encampment, and that they are “standing in solidarity” with other student protests — which have been the sites of increasingly hostile confrontations between protestors and police resulting in hundreds of arrests and injuries — and to facilitate “education and cultural exchange.”

The demonstration, which is planned from noon to 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, is said to include musical performances, artist demonstrations, and areas for prayer and study.

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More: Iowa City student group prepares for weekend Israel-Hamas war rally on Pentacrest

A student group at Iowa City High School organized a strike from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Friday, May 3, encouraging students and community members to join them “in solidarity with students at Columbia University and across the country in standing up for the human rights of all Palestinians and denouncing the US-funded genocide.”

About a dozen participants were setting up the demonstration outside the high school before 9 a.m. The students plan to head to the Pentacrest at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

High school administration acknowledged a “student walkout” and that “students have the right to participate in organized protests,” in principal John Bacon’s email to the City High Community on Thursday, May 2.

In the email obtained by the Iowa City Press-Citizen, Bacon said that students who leave class to attend the demonstration will be marked with an unexcused absence unless parents excuse it by notifying the school.

Students who return to school after participating will have to check in at the main office.

More: Why are college students protesting across US for Palestinians? What about in Iowa?

Iowa City Press-Citizen reporters Jessica Rish and Julia Hansen contributed to this article.

Paris Barraza is a trending and general assignment reporter at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at pbarraza@registermedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ParisBarraza.

WESTLAKE — The rematch of last year’s nonselect Division II baseball state championship game went extra innings Thursday night as No. 20 Lakeshore beat No. 12 Iowa 7-5 in nine innings.

Game 2 of the best-of-3 quarterfinals series will be Saturday at 11 a.m. If necessary, Game 3 will start at 1:30 p.m.

The Titans broke a 2-2 tie with five runs in the top of the ninth inning. They quickly loaded the bases on a single, error and a walk. Mason Maldonado hit a RBI single to left field for the go-ahead run and an error on the same play allowed another run to cross the plate. Reese Sanzone gave Lakeshore plenty of breathing room with a two-run triple.

Iowa (20-12) attempted a two-out comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning and cut Lakeshore’s (17-19) lead to two on Tyler Dartez’s bases-clearing double, but Mason Gegenheimer induced a ground out to end the game.

Iowa forced extra innings when Reed Dupre hit a one-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, but the Yellow Jackets left a runner on second and third base.

The Yellow Jackets left a runner on third again in the bottom of the eighth inning. Cole Corbello led off by drawing a base on balls, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and ground out before Titan starting pitcher Owen Guth got a ground out to end the threat.

Guth pitched eight innings to earn the win before being relieved by Mason Gegenheimer in the ninth inning. He allowed two earned runs on three hits with four strikeouts and five walks.

Dupre took the loss in relief, allowing five runs, three earned, on three hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. Corbello started on the mound for Iowa and allowed one earned run in seven innings with four strikeouts and four walks.