Iowa law making illegal immigration a state crime goes to governor's desk

Iowa legislators passed a law on Tuesday making it a state crime to enter illegally and enabling deportation proceedings at the state level.

The law passed easily and will now go to Governor Kim Reynolds' desk. She is expected to sign it.

“The status quo of federal government failure is unsustainable,” the bill's floor manager Bill Holt told the Des Moines Register. “I believe that in order to protect our communities and our state, we must push the envelope. And that is what this legislation does.”

The law is similar to one passed in Texas, which the Supreme Court has gone back and forth over whether to block while appeals play out.

Generally, states cannot make their own immigration laws except when the federal government abdicates responsibility to enforce existing border laws, which is what Texas argues is happening.