skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Does Iowa Bill "Grease the Wheels" for Anti-Immigrant Agenda?

play audio
Play

Wednesday, February 22, 2017   

DES MOINES, Iowa – Opponents of a bill under consideration at the Iowa Statehouse say it would "grease the wheels" for President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigrants.

House File 265 would essentially bar state and local governments, along with public universities, from enacting policies that limit or restrict enforcement of federal immigration laws.

Community organizer Madeline Cano, with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, says the measure amounts to a dangerous attack on immigrant communities.

"It is xenophobic, it is racist," she said. "It actually is the opposite of creating public safety, it causes a problem, in that there is a huge, then, distrust between immigrant and refugee communities and their neighbors, public officials, law enforcement and educators."

The bill was introduced by Denison Republican Representative Steven Holt, who argues the bill is aimed at enforcing the law and not at any particular community. But Cano argues the measure isn't necessary because local law-enforcement agencies already cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Cano also is concerned about the possibility of more anti-immigrant bills coming from the Legislature this session, which she feels discount the contributions of immigrants that now call Iowa home.

"You look at places like West Liberty, Perry, Denison, Storm Lake - those towns have been revitalized by the immigrant communities there," she added. "And if you look in urban areas, the Des Moines Public Schools has over 100 represented countries in the school system. That's huge."

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security issued new guidance to immigration agents that says any immigrant in the country illegally could be subject to deportation, except for those protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The guidance also calls for increased hiring of immigration and border agents.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021