Winneshiek County officials are worried about the impact of new legislation pertaining to immigrants

Winneshiek County officials are working to put together policies on how they will interact with ICE--the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Legislation passed by the Iowa State Legislature this past April will make that job more difficult, they say.  Senate File 481 created new regulations pertaining to inmates held in county jails and possibly wanted for immigration courts.

Winneshiek County Attorney Andy Van Der Maaten and Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx say they have been working with magistrates and judges to make sure they write court orders to retain a prisoner wanted for questioning by ICE.  "We're doing the best we can in dealing with this," says Van Der Maaten, while Marx says asking magistrates and judges to write retaining orders as part of court proceedings is "an end-around to a poor bill."

The two say it's not true Winneshiek County is a "sanctuary county," as one Cedar Rapids news organization claimed several months ago.  Marx says, "We are a constitutional county," saying that's because the county wants a judge's ruling to be the reason it does something.

Winneshiek county resident Lyle Otte, who has been studying the situation and talking with county officials, praised county officials for not setting up a policy that would lead to racial profiling.  Otte agreed with Marx that the legislation is poorly drafted, saying, "There's going to be a lawsuit over this."