Ruling protects families and upholds constitutional limits on state power
WASHINGTON, DC, October 23, 2025 — In a landslide victory for immigrant communities and the rule of law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit today upheld an injunction blocking Iowa’s SF 2340. This law is the worst immigration law in Iowa’s history and would make it a crime for certain immigrants to live in Iowa, even if they are currently allowed to remain in the United States. state.
The law would also have allowed local authorities to handle arrests and deportations. This is something the government does not have the power to do under the Constitution because immigration law is handled by federal authorities to ensure a consistent national policy, rather than a patchwork of 50 different state rules that can tear families apart and cause chaos.
“This is a huge relief for thousands of Iowa families,” said Erica Johnson, founding executive director of the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice (Iowa MMJ), the group that filed the lawsuit. “The court’s decision confirms that key members of our community should never be criminalized simply for being here and living peacefully. This decision restores a sense of safety and dignity to those who call Iowa home.”
The lawsuit, Iowa Immigrant Movement for Justice v. Byrd, was brought by MMJ of Iowa and two individual plaintiffs represented by the ACLU of Iowa, the ACLU Immigrant Rights Project, and the American Immigration Council.
SF 2340 would make it a crime for noncitizens who have previously been deported or denied entry to the United States to live in Iowa, even if they later obtain legal status or federal permission to return. The law also gives state and local law enforcement the power to arrest people just for being in the state and requires state judges to issue deportation orders. Under the Constitution, these powers belong solely to the federal government, to ensure that families are not torn apart by conflicting rules across state lines.
“SF 2340 is the worst anti-immigrant law in Iowa’s history. Today’s decision blocks SF 2340 and protects Iowa immigrants from a number of serious harms (arrest, detention, deportation, family separation, incarceration, etc.), all at the hands of the state. At a time when the federal government has caused so much harm to families, it is all the more important that the state does not allow the state to make matters worse.” “It reaffirms that the Iowa Legislature does not have the authority to pass its own immigration laws to detain and deport people,” said Rita Bettis Austin, ACLU of Iowa Legal Director. “Immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government, and this decision protects families and ensures that the law is applied fairly and consistently.”
This law was originally enacted on April 10, 2024 and was blocked from taking effect on June 17, 2024. The state of Iowa subsequently appealed this decision. (See here for additional documents related to the ongoing litigation). This latest Eighth Circuit ruling leaves the law blocked for now while litigation continues in federal court.
“The Eighth Circuit’s decision resonates far beyond Iowa,” said Emma Winger, deputy legal director at the American Immigration Council. “Across the country, we’re seeing states move to take immigration enforcement into their own hands, potentially creating a reality where just crossing the border is welcomed in one state and arrested in the next. Under our Constitution, immigrants must be processed at the federal level to keep families out of the mess, and this ruling supports that principle.”
“Today, the Eighth Circuit reiterated what the Supreme Court has said for more than 100 years: States do not have to regulate immigration on their own,” said Spencer Amdur, lead attorney for the ACLU’s Domestic Immigrant Rights Project. “This law tore apart families and denied people the right to live and seek legal protection in this country. The court was right to strike down this law, as it has done for similar laws across the country.”
Click here to view past litigation materials.
