Justice Department Drops Lawsuits Against Oklahoma, Iowa Immigration Laws

Courts had blocked the laws, finding they violate the Constitution by creating state immigration enforcement systems.

The Department of Justice in Washington on Feb. 12, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Justice Department on March 14 dropped Biden-era lawsuits challenging state laws in Oklahoma and Iowa that empowered those states to detain and apply consequences to illegal immigrants.

Despite the federal government’s new actions, the Oklahoma and Iowa laws remain blocked by federal courts.

The Department of Justice filed a voluntary notice of dismissal with the federal district court in Oklahoma and a voluntary notice of dismissal with the federal district court in Iowa.

The Biden administration had sued to block the two state laws, arguing that they violated the U.S. Constitution by creating state-based immigration systems that clash with the federal system.

President Donald Trump ran on a platform last year that promised enhanced immigration law enforcement efforts and has issued a series of executive orders dealing with immigration policy since returning to the White House.

The Oklahoma law, HB 4156, allows state law enforcement officials to detain and incarcerate illegal immigrants found to be physically present in the state. The law also requires that those convicted under the statute leave Oklahoma within 72 hours.

“Countless individuals from across the globe, including thousands of Chinese nationals as well as people affiliated with terror organizations, have illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. Oklahomans are concerned by who could be lying in wait for an opportunity to bring harm to our country,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said on April 30, 2024, when he signed the measure into law.

The law created the offense of “impermissible occupation,” which occurs when a person is “an alien and willfully and without permission enters and remains in the State of Oklahoma without having first obtained legal authorization to enter the United States.” The statute defines “alien” as “any person not a citizen or national of the United States.”

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond welcomed the dismissal of the federal lawsuit.

“As we had hoped and anticipated, President Trump and the [Department of Justice] have taken action that will enable Oklahoma law enforcement to crack down on the illegal marijuana operations that have infested our state,” Drummond said in a statement.

“For far too long, Oklahoma law enforcement was stymied because the federal government had declined to do anything about deporting the illegal immigrants found working on these grows,” Drummond said.

On June 28, 2024, U.S. District Judge Bernard Jones, who was presiding over the lawsuit, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the state law while the case was being considered by the court.

“Effectively, H.B. 4156 criminalizes conduct already proscribed under federal law,” Jones wrote in his order.

If the law were allowed to stand, “each state could give itself ‘independent authority’ to achieve its own immigration policy ... undoubtedly ‘diminishing the federal government’s control over enforcement’ and ‘detracting from the integrated scheme of regulation created by Congress,’” the judge wrote, citing the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling in Arizona v. United States, which struck down a state law that made it a state crime to be unlawfully present in the United States.

“Sensitive matters of immigration policy ‘must be made with one voice.’ ... And for better or for worse, that voice belongs not to one individual state, but to the United States,” Jones wrote.

The Iowa statute, known as SF 2340, was signed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on April 10, 2024.

The law made it an offense for an “alien” to enter or attempt to enter the state if “the person has been denied admission to or has been excluded, deported, or removed from the United States.” The statute also allowed state judges to order those convicted to be returned to their country of origin.

“The Biden Administration has failed to enforce our nation’s immigration laws, putting the protection and safety of Iowans at risk,” Reynolds said on signing the bill.

The bill gave Iowa law enforcement the power to “enforce immigration laws already on the books,” she said.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird thanked the Department of Justice for dropping its lawsuit.

“Today, President Trump, again, proved that he has Iowa’s back and showcased his commitment to Making America Safe Again by dropping Biden’s ridiculous lawsuit. This is a major victory for Iowans across the state,” Bird said in a statement.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher blocked the law on June 17, 2024, finding it was preempted by federal law, which prevails over state law.

“As a matter of politics, the new legislation might be defensible. As a matter of constitutional law, it is not,” Locher wrote in his order.

Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and SF 2340 “does not permit federal immigration law to run its course,” he wrote.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the judge’s preliminary injunction on Jan. 24.

A three-judge panel determined that SF 2340 conflicts with federal law and with federal officials’ discretion in immigration removal proceedings.

The Epoch Times reached out to the Department of Justice for comment. No reply was received by publication time.

Zachary Stieber, Chase Smith, and Caden Pearson contributed to this report.