Bird: Iowa sheriff violated the law requiring detention of suspected illegal immigrants

by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch

March 26, 2025

Iowa Attorney General Brenna said Wednesday that a county sheriff broke the law by saying he would not honor requests to detain people for suspected violations of immigration laws if those requests weren’t approved the courts.

In a Feb. 4, 2025, Facebook post, Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx, a Republican, stated that if his office received “detainer” requests to hold suspected illegal immigrants, and those requests were not vetted and approved by the courts, they would be rejected by his office.

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In his post, Marx distinguished between detainer requests of that kind and what he called “valid” judicial warrants and court orders. He wrote that “the only reason detainers are issued is because the federal agency does not have enough information or has not taken the time to obtain a valid judicial warrant.”

In her report, Bird claims that assertion by Marx is false.

Marx also wrote that detainers which had not been vetted by the courts were “violations of our 4th Amendment protection against warrantless search, seizure and arrest, and our 6th Amendment right to due process” — another claim that Bird says is false.

Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican like Bird, had sent the attorney general’s office an official complaint seeking an investigation into the Facebook post.

In the report summarizing her investigation, Bird alleges Marx’s post violated Iowa Code Chapter 27A, which prohibits state law enforcement from discouraging public cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

On Wednesday, Bird said Marx’s Facebook post discourages such cooperation by making “false claims” and by threatening to interfere with enforcing Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers.

According to the report, Marx stated on Feb. 14, 2025, that his office had complied with all 21 of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers that it had received.

Bird said Wednesday her office will close its investigation once the sheriff has issued a statement “clarifying” his Facebook post, and she gave him until 5 p.m. on Wednesday to do so. Bird’s report and a related press release were issued at 4:44 p.m. Wednesday, 16 minutes before the deadline. It’s not clear when Marx was informed of the deadline.

Failure to comply with the directive, Bird said, would result in enforcement action against the sheriff.

“Iowa law makes clear that there are no sanctuary counties,” Bird said in a press release. “Any reports of sanctuary counties or sheriffs will be investigated. Our investigation into Winneshiek County found that the sheriff is violating the law, and we are giving the sheriff a chance to fix the problem. Failure to do so means that his county may lose all state funding.”

In an unusual move, Bird provided Marx with specific language to include in the public statement that is to go out over his signature, adding that his statement must conform “substantially” to the language she dictated:

“People of Winneshiek County,

The Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office fully complies with all state and federal law. We cooperate with ICE, FBI, and others under both state and federal law. Iowa law requires full and complete cooperation with federal immigration authorities. We follow that law.

“We will always comply with ICE detainers and, at least since November 26, 2018, we have done so. This post serves as formal revocation of my earlier February 4, 2025 post. Since we adopted our official policy that we will comply with ICE detainers, we have complied with all 21 ICE detainers that ICE has made with our office. We will continue to comply with every ICE detainer request made in Winneshiek County.

“On Feb. 4, I posted a message on Facebook that implied we would not fully comply with state and federal law. I have deleted that message, which I disavow. It was wrong. It made many incorrect statements regarding my office’s policies on ICE detainers. This message explaining that the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office has always complied with every single ICE detainer made and will continue to comply, as required by both state and federal law, replaces that message.

“My office has a long-time stance on recognizing and complying with ICE detainers. We will continue to do so.

“Respectfully, Sheriff Dan Marx.”

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