Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is suing to defund an entire county after its leading law enforcement authority vowed to "make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt" deportation operations based on ICE detainers, which he called unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall | Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office | John Lamparski/Getty Images)
Despite this, Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx pledged not to cooperate with ICE detainers in a Feb. 4 Facebook post in which he asserted that a detainer is "simply an unconstitutional *request* from ICE."
In the now-deleted post, Marx encouraged people to contact his office if they encounter "any federal agents" and said he and his staff are "always willing to assist with verifying credentials and the legitimacy of any paperwork federal agents should have to make certain your rights are not being abused."
"If the fed’s actions and paperwork are within constitutional parameters (such as proper and valid judicial warrants/court orders) we will assist if needed or requested to ensure their actions are carried out professionally and in the least intrusive fashion possible," he said.
"If their actions or paperwork are not within constitutional parameters," he went on, "then we will make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt their actions from moving forward."
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, filed an official complaint with the attorney general about the sheriff violating a state law mandating law enforcement cooperate with federal immigration authorities. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
In response, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, filed an official complaint with the attorney general about the sheriff violating a state law mandating law enforcement cooperate with federal immigration authorities. This prompted an investigation in which Bird found that, despite his defiant rhetoric, Marx’s office had complied with "every single ICE detainer request" since 2018.
The attorney general gave Marx a deadline last week to amend his statements to comply with state law. When he refused to issue a correction, Bird launched a lawsuit to pull all state funding to Winneshiek County until the sheriff agrees to comply with state law regarding cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
Bird argues that Marx’s post, which she said was "rife with legal and factual errors that discouraged enforcing immigration laws," violated chapter 27A of the Iowa state legal code.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the Polk County District Court, cites section 27A.4 of the Iowa legal code, which states that a county "shall be ineligible to receive any state funds if the local entity intentionally violates this chapter."
DEMOCRAT MAYOR BLASTED FOR VOWING TO MAKE MAJOR CITY ‘SAFE HAVEN’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
AG Brenna Bird, alongside more than a dozen state AGs, filed an amicus brief supporting President Trump's exeuctive order ending birthright citizenship. (Getty Images)
She noted that her office "gave the Sheriff an opportunity to fix his state-law violation and cooperate with immigration enforcement, but he refused—knowing that it would cost his home community. All he has to do to end this is fix the problem and follow the law."
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"Years of a Biden-Harris border invasion takes a serious toll—even on Iowa, and we’re a long way away from the border," she went on. "Thankfully, President Trump hit the ground running to secure the border, crack down on drug trafficking, and reduce crime. And as Iowa’s Attorney General, I will keep fighting to ensure our state cooperates with federal immigration authorities to keep our communities safe."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/red-state-moves-defund-county-after-leader-vows-interfere-interrupt-ice-deportations