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Call to Action! Contact your Iowa legislators about bills affecting immigrants

2/28/2024

Call to Action! Contact your Iowa legislators now!

Civil Rights Forum

Various bills that attack immigrants have been introduced into both the Iowa House of Representative and the Iowa Senate. The bills reject "Iowa Nice" ideals and could destroy opportunities of prosperous futures for those impacted and have negative ramifications across the state. Our legislators should be focusing on proposals that strengthen our communities versus proposing solutions to problems that do not exist.

TAKE ACTION NOW by letting your Iowa legislators know how you feel about these bills! Learn the details of each one through the links below. The legislative voting process in Iowa is very fast and we expect that they will try to pass these sometime this month. Contact them today! And again this week!

Making us a state that is not migrant friendly will have a negative impact on Iowa's economy. Read the attached pdf below from the American Immigration Council that explains: As neighbors, business owners, taxpayers (emphasis added), and workers, immigrants are an integral part of Iowa’s diverse and thriving communities and make extensive contributions that benefit all. You may read the entire article, Map the Impact - Immigrants in Iowa, here or download the pdf attached below. Make sure your friends and family educate themselves on the important roles that immigrants play in our state!

Use this link to find the names of your Iowa State legislators. Senator Scott Webster of Bettendorf (District 47), has been identified as a key legislator to contact. His contact information can be found on this link. Call, email or write to him!

Some of the talking points to bring up with your legislators are:

Migration policy is typically handled at the federal level.
What are the problems that these “solutions” address?
How do these bills accomplish anything productive?

Here are the bills that we are concerned about. Click on the blue name to read each one. SF stands for Senate File and HF stands for House File.

SF 2340 would create a state crime of “illegal entry into the state by an alien.” This bill is believed to be pre-empted by federal law and the U.S. Constitution. It is problematic that this bill would explicitly allow state officials to prosecute an individual for state immigration crimes, even if that person’s application for immigration relief is pending before federal authorities. Read a summary of SF 2340 here.
HF 2112 would create the state crime of “smuggling of persons.” The language of the bill is vague. Does “encourage” or “induce” a person to remain in the U.S. mean providing food or shelter to an immigrant? Does it mean a person sending money home to a family? That should not be out of bounds. Read a summary of HF 2112 here.
HF 2320 would forbid state universities and community colleges from offering in-state tuition to residents of Iowa unless they can prove “lawful presence.” Young people should not be hindered from working towards a promising future only because they were brought to the United States by their parents at a young age without legal status. As state and local taxpayers, we have already invested in the education of these young people for many years and in some cases this proposal might stop us from getting a return on our investment. Read a summary of HF 2320 here.
SF 108 would make use of the voluntary federal “e-verify” program mandatory for employers in Iowa. E-verify is a web-based system that allows enrolled employers to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States. This bill is duplicative in part because the federal government is already authorized to investigate employment violations in this context. Read a summary of SF 108 here.