Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Virgina Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli ruled Monday that police can check immigration status of anyone stopped or arrested in the state, a move that should bolster the hopes of those around the country who want to pass their own Arizona-style immigration law, including Republican gubernatorial hopeful Terry Branstad.
Cuccinelli wrote the opinion at the request of a Republican state lawmaker who hopes to enact stricter anti-undocumented immigrant measures. This wasn’t Cuccinelli’s first act in support of Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law — he joined a coalition of nine states filing a “friend-of-the-court” brief supporting Arizona’s law.
According to his July 30 official legal opinion:
State and local officers are not required to stand idly by and allow such criminals to proceed with impunity. The same holds true with criminal violations of the immigration laws. [...]
Virginia law enforcement officers have the authority to make the same inquiries as those contemplated by the new Arizona law. So long as the officers have the requisite level of suspicion to believe that a violation of the law has occurred, the officers may detain and briefly question a person they suspect has committed a federal crime.
The ruling does not authorize officers to make arrests for civil violations of immigration laws, unless they have been given authorization from federal authorities. The ruling will be considered law unless it loses a challenge in court.
Here in Iowa, Branstad has repeatedly voiced his support for changing state law to allow police to demand proof of citizenship of any immigrant stopped for traffic violation or other offenses. If they cannot prove they are legally in the country, they would be deported.
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