Letter to the editor: Reynolds’ anti-immigrant law insults police

To the editor:

I have a question for all of you who “Back the Blue.” How are you standing up for our brave men and women in law enforcement who put their lives on the line for our safety as they navigate Gov. Reynolds’ new law to criminalize “illegal reentry”?

Let me be clear. I do not support this action. It is needlessly harmful to friends and families. It rips the social fabric of Iowa. It damages our economy. It is the wrong thing to do. It will serve no useful purpose and will only bring lawsuits against the state.

If the governor had truly wanted to “Back the Blue,” she would have sought feedback from local law enforcement. She would have clearly communicated her intent and aims with the police. She would have discussed whether the proposed law would effectively achieve those goals. She would have considered the consequences of the law and recognized the training and resources police officers would need to enforce it.

But instead of thinking through the consequences and asking whether the law was clear, whether it was necessary, whether it was even legal — a similar law is being challenged in Texas, and the DOJ has stated it will take action against Iowa’s version — our so-called leaders actively chose to create chaos and confusion.

Maybe you’ve been fine with other destructive actions taken by this governor and her minions, such as blowing up the public-sector unions, destroying the AEAs, weakening the State Auditor’s ability to fight corruption, eliminating boards and commissions and more.

But as someone who chants, “Back the Blue!” do you really favor burdening law enforcement agencies across the state with new duties but with no training, resources or funding to meet those new burdens? Because that is exactly what this governor has done.

Our police are faced with enforcing a law that doesn’t adequately provide them with clear information, intent or guidance. It burdens them with additional duties they don’t consider part of their job but rather duties of the federal government.

Reynolds herself, when confronted with questions about her unclear law, stated that it “sends a message.”

What message is that, governor? The message that hardworking, peaceful, contributing undocumented immigrants and their families should be scared to live in Iowa, scared to call 911, scared to be a forthcoming witness to a crime? The message that adult documented immigrants should be in fear of conviction if they previously were deported as a child?

Maybe the clear message is that your laws are designed to send a political message to your donor base and not to effectively protect Iowans.

Law enforcement officers are already reporting the damage being done to community relations. Poor relationships and deteriorating trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve help no one.

While this is an intentional attack on immigrants by the governor, the detrimental ripple effects will be felt widely across Iowa—even your mega-donors may not be shielded, governor.

What happens when non-immigrant criminals—who consistently have a higher crime rate than non-documented immigrants–are now able to commit more crimes, harm more people and become harder to catch because part of Iowa’s population is now more fearful of calling 911?

What happens when 911 calls aren’t answered in a timely manner now that you’ve diverted limited resources to your personal cause?

Voters, this is what our current governor does repeatedly: She copies proposed legislation from a conservative think tank or extremist conservative state and then blindly and unthinkingly imposes it upon Iowans regardless of what Iowans really want, and she ignores the insights of the experts in the field who ultimately will be expected to implement the law.

This repeatedly results in signing short-sighted laws that create chaos and may actually do the exact opposite of what they claim to do—in this case, it could potentially increase crime and make Iowa less safe for all.

So we can add law enforcement to the long list of Iowans whom Reynolds boldly and unapologetically demonstrates she has no qualms about disrespecting. Sadly, immigrants, food-insecure children, lower-income families and individuals, women, LGBTQ+ communities and others have long been on that list. Most Iowans are irrelevant to her—immigrant and non-immigrant–even the ones in blue.

Laura Stebbins
Perry