Iowa immigrants’ rights organization calls Gov. Reynolds comments ‘callous’

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - An Iowa-based immigrants’ rights organization is condemning Gov. Reynolds’ comments about immigrant children.

On Thursday, Reynolds told WHO radio she rejected a federal request to accept migrant children into the state saying the situation “is the president’s problem.”

The Iowa Immigrant Movement for Justice called the governor’s comments callous.

“We are disappointed that Governor Reynolds has decided on behalf of all Iowans that these children are “not our problem”, yet we are not surprised.”

The organization also said it is deeply concerned about unaccompanied children and the use of overcrowded influx facilities being used to detain them as they arrive at the border.

Iowa 1st District Congresswoman Ashley Hinson joined several other Republican members of Congress on a trip to the southwest border on Thursday. She called on the Biden Administration to be tougher in its messaging to slow down the arrival of people at the border.

“We need to respect our laws. We need to secure our border, and we need to make sure that we stop this surge, and the best way to do that is to be explicit with our language,” Hinson said. “I’m calling on the Biden administration to do that.”

Joe Henry, the political director of LULAC Iowa, the nation’s largest Latino civil rights organization, said, “These kids are not drug dealers. They’re not violent criminals. They are refugees. We need to do the right thing. We need to do our part.”

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