⚖️ Immigrant Groups Warned This Was Coming

May 15, 2024

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It’s Wednesday, May 15, 2024.

After immigrants and their allies held marches and vigils in four Iowa cities to protest SF 2340, a few promised lawsuits were coming.

Now, they’re here.

The first lawsuit was filed May 9 against Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Iowa, and the American Immigration Council on behalf of the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice.

“Iowa lawmakers knowingly targeted people who are protected by federal immigration laws and who are legally allowed to be here, like people granted asylum, or special visas given to survivors of domestic violence or other crimes,” said ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen.

“And there are lots of good reasons … why the federal government enforces our immigration law, instead of all 50 states going out and doing their own thing to enforce their own separate immigration schemes,” she added.

The second lawsuit, also filed May 9, was brought by the US Justice Department, which challenged the law under the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution. That clause specifies that only the federal government may regulate immigration and manage the country’s borders.

Read the DOJ’s lawsuit here, and catch up with the rallies here.

Speaking of the Latino workforce: Guess which demographic currently has the highest fatality rate in the US (and is sharply rising)?

Amie Rivers

Community Editor, Iowa Starting Line

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This week’s Iowa worker news:

Red Lobsters close, including in Iowa: Workers at the Council Bluffs and Waterloo Red Lobster restaurants were suddenly out of a job Monday, as the fast casual seafood chain abruptly shuttered at least 48 of its 650 US locations as it considers filing for bankruptcy.
Hy-Vees in three low-income neighborhoods are closing, which will create three new food deserts in Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and Waterloo and hundreds of jobs lost when they shutter June 23.
As Tyson workers in Perry prepare for their plant to close next month, Des Moines Area Community College plans to open a resource center at Van Kirk Academy in Perry to help them skill up. The academy director noted the programs will be based on what workers told them they want, and include classes in welding as well as an intro to getting a commercial driver’s license specifically for English language learners.
$1,000 for college, trade school, or apprenticeship: High school graduates who are immediate family members of union members can apply for the Mac Smith Scholarship by June 1. (Looking for a pre-apprenticeship program? Check out this Daily Iowan story on one at the University of Iowa, or this one in Fort Dodge.)
New federal rule to help temporary farmworkers: The final rule, issued by the US Department of Labor late last month, will protect H-2A farmworkers’ rights to advocate for better working conditions, clarify how they can be terminated, bring transparency to foreign labor recruitment, and more.
Workers in Argentina staged a massive 24-hour strike last week, which included nearly all transportation, in protest of President Javier Milei’s policies that have slashed spending, increased layoffs, and caused inflation to rise.

Before you punch out 🍟

A new lawsuit by 10 current or formerly incarcerated residents of Alabama’s state prisons say that not only was their labor intentionally exploited for profit, they were actually denied parole to keep them working at places like McDonalds—for basically nothing.