The Biden administration filed a lawsuit against Iowa on Thursday over a law that allows state authorities to arrest and deport immigrants in Iowa who have previously been deported or denied entry into the country.

The suit, filed by the Justice Department in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, says that the law violates the Constitution and asks that Iowa be blocked from enforcing the law. Governor Kim Reynolds (R) signed the measure into law last month, saying it was necessary because the Biden administration had failed to secure the border. 

“Iowa cannot disregard the U.S. Constitution and settled Supreme Court precedent,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton. “We have brought this action to ensure that Iowa adheres to the framework adopted by Congress and the Constitution for regulation of immigration.”   

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has promised to defend the law. 

“When Biden fails to do his job and secure our border, States have to take matters into their own hands. Iowa’s law is not unique; it simply enforces immigration laws while Biden refuses to,” she said in a statement. “Iowa stands ready to defend our immigration law that keeps Iowa communities safe.”

The measure, SF 2340, creates a penalty for “illegal reentry,” and illegal immigrants who break the law could face up to two years in prison and deportation. It is set to go into effect on July 1. 

Under the new state law, an immigrant could be guilty of a Class C felony and face up to 10 years in prison for illegally entering the country if he/she was arrested for committing another felony. The law also requires Iowa judges to submit an order for a person convicted of illegally entering the U.S. to be returned to their home country.

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“But Iowa cannot create its own immigration system. Its efforts, through SF 2340, intrude on the federal government’s exclusive authority to regulate the entry and removal of noncitizens, frustrate the United States’ immigration operations, and interfere with U.S. foreign relations,” the DOJ argues in its lawsuit. 

Other states, like Texas and Oklahoma, have passed similar laws cracking down on illegal immigration. Texas’s law has been tied up in the courts and has yet to go into effect while Oklahoma enacted a state law creating penalties for illegal immigration earlier this month.

The DOJ’s suit against Iowa is the latest filed against a state attempting to crack down on illegal immigration.