WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after a recent email from the office of Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller advised county attorneys to disregard Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer orders and release suspected illegal immigrants from custody:
Attorney Supervisor, Corwin Ritchie, advised all county attorneys the below in an email on May 22, 2014:
“We recommend that you review your jail’s practices with regard to ICE detainers in light of the…potential civil liability those practices entail. While not yet clear in Iowa, it is doubtful that the 48 hour hold requested by the I-247 detainer will offer protection from liability….We recognize that this notice may raise more questions than provide answers in this developing area of law.”
In response, King attacked Miller’s policy this week.
“Iowa’s chief law enforcement officer is thwarting a policy that simply ensures that immigration law is enforced against threats to public safety,” said King. “Attorney General Tom Miller appears to have given in to pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) at the cost of endangering the health and safety of Iowans and the Rule of Law. AG Miller’s message to local law enforcement is not a reasoned legal argument but instead an act of choosing sides against the best interests of Iowans and public safety.
Federal ICE detainer orders are clear, precise and mandatory. The law states that agencies ‘shall maintain custody of the alien,’ once an ICE detainer order on a prisoner is issued. Attorney General Miller’s office still, remarkably, told all 99 counties in Iowa that the ICE detainer orders are simply requests. These ICE detainer orders are used to make sure that aliens that commit serious crimes are not released back in the public when they should be lawfully deported back to their native countries. Federal law clearly states that it is mandatory to honor detainer orders. Furthermore, no binding precedent in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals or in Iowa state court disputes the plain language of the detainer orders. Thankfully, the ultimate decision to follow the law and protect Iowans is not in the hands of Attorney General Miller. I call on all Iowa law enforcement to follow the law and protect their citizens.”
In August, the ACLU said that many of Iowa’s largest jails are no longer honoring requests by the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold individuals taken to jail that are suspected of being illegal aliens.
The ACLU claims that 22 Iowa county jails have told the organization that they have decided against holding people at the request ICE simply because they are suspected of not having proper immigration authorization.
Whole damn phoney government is distasteful.
Tom Miller needs to be removed from office. How can a state Attorney General reverse a Federal order pertaining to detaining illegal aliens. You help to pass these laws Miller, then after our law enforcement carries out these orders, you want them to disregard their duties. That’s total BS, Miller needs to go.