The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa announced Monday that 22 Iowa county jails will no longer honor Immigration and Customs Enforcement requests to detain inmates suspected of immigration violations unless a judge has approved a warrant to that end.
In April, the ACLU dispatched letters to law enforcement officials in the states’ 99 counties, arguing that they are not required to carry out ICE detainer requests.
“We are encouraged that in our reaching out to law enforcement and making them aware of people’s rights and potential legal and financial liability for local sheriffs, they are starting to respond with policies that protect the constitutional rights of everyone in our state’s borders,” Erica Johnson, Immigrants’ Rights and Racial Justice Advocate of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, said in a statement Monday.
According to the ACLU, the 22 counties that have told the civil liberties group that they will not honor ICE immigration holds are Allamakee, Benton, Cass, Clinton, Dubuque, Franklin, Fremont, Ida, Iowa, Greene, Jefferson, Johnson, Linn, Marion, Monona, Montgomery, Polk, Pottawattamie, Sioux, Story, Wapello, and Winneshiek counties.
“We are continuing to reach out to the remaining county sheriffs that have not responded,” Johnson added. “We’re hopeful that sheriffs in all 99 counties will stand on the side of vulnerable communities and victims of crime by adopting policies that stop the use of ICE detainers in their counties.”
News that 22 Iowa counties are no longer going to honor ICE holds comes as a number of cities and localities around the country have done the same.
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