In Iowa, Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx posted a letter on Facebook which said the sheriff’s office will not comply with a detainer request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “if their actions or paperwork are not within constitutional parameters.”
Marx explained the difference between non-judicially vetted “detainers,” which “are very different than warrants and are simply an unconstitutional ‘request’ from ICE or other three letter federal agency to arrest or hold someone.”
The Sheriff wrote: “The only reason detainers are issued is because the federal agency does not have enough information or has not taken the time to obtain a valid judicial warrant. Simply put, they are not sure they are detaining the right person and need more time to figure it out. For the person who could be held erroneously (or determined to be someone other than who ICE is seeking), there is a gross violation of rights at hand. Specifically, these detainers are violations of our 4th Amendment protection against warrantless search, seizure and arrest, and our 6th Amendment right to due process.
He added: “You may say, ‘Those who entered our country illegally are not US citizens and, therefore, are not afforded constitutional rights!’ But what if the person being held is a US citizen who happens to have the same name or shares other similarities with the subject of the detainer? Are you willing to sit in jail or a federal prison on an unconstitutional detainer with no right to due process until ICE clears your name? Or, if it were you or a loved one falsely arrested and/or detained, would you feel differently?”
Sheriff Marx wrote: “My office’s actions and involvement will solely be based on constitutional standards. They will not be based on opinions, politics or emotions.”
Republican Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds responded to Sheriff Marx (and the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors) with a letter, “reminding them of their obligation to follow state law and comply with ICE’s enforcement of our immigration laws.”
Reynolds also reminded Marx that state law prohibits a sheriff from prohibiting or discouraging a law enforcement officer “from assisting or cooperating with a federal immigration officer as reasonable or necessary.”
Today, I sent a letter to the Winneshiek County Sheriff and Board of Supervisors, reminding them of their obligation to follow state law and comply with ICE’s enforcement of our immigration laws. pic.twitter.com/CC7XEuim9W
— Gov. Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) February 6, 2025
Reynolds said her letter “shall be treated as a complaint I am filing with the attorney general,” and warns Sheriff Marx that he and the county “can become ineligible to receive any state funds if the local entity is found to have intentionally violated” the state law.
MAGA supporters are applauding Reynolds on social media while others are defending the sheriff whom they believe “isn’t doing this to disobey immigration statutes, he is doing it to uphold the constitution and the 4th Amendment.”
Others are objecting to Reynolds’ threat and suggest that the governor: “Have a conversation together and hear each other. Letters, emails, and threats are not the way Iowans work things out.”
The threat of pausing state funds in Iowa should be taken seriously. In April 2023, the office of Iowa’s Attorney General Brenna Bird ordered a pause in the state’s practice of paying for emergency contraception or abortions for rape victims.
In May 2024, Bird succeeded in ending payments for rape victims to access abortion (state-paid emergency contraception resumed). Note: Crime Victim Compensation Funds are not funded with taxpayer dollars but, instead, money from criminal penalties and fees.
.jpg){kind=link}