26 or more of Iowa's 99 counties are governed as 'sanctuary cities,' don't cooperate with fed. immigration and customs. Iowa meat packing co's hire more foreigners because they accept lower wages-Washington Post, 1/31/16. (Commenter: Desire to exploit illegal immigrant labor drives major political donors)

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1/31/16, "The GOP’s condemnation of ‘sanctuary cities’ is surprisingly awkward in Iowa," Washington Post, Robert Samuels, Council Bluffs, Iowa

"In Iowa, at least 26 of the state’s 99 counties are deemed sanctuaries-including some of the state’s most conservative.

The designation is an informal one, assigned by activists on both sides of the immigration debate. Governments are generally considered sanctuaries if local officials refuse to honor requests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold onto suspected illegal immigrants arrested on minor charges while fed­eral agents figure out their status.

After a federal appeals court ruled in 2014 that these requests-known as “detainers”-were optional, the American Civil Liberties Union alerted local sheriff’s departments that they would be subject to lawsuits if they held a citizen without a proper warrant. Nearly 300 jurisdictions nationwide, conservative and liberal, have opted not to take that risk.

Typically, the decisions that lead to a community earning sanctuary status are made without fanfare or public debate. Instead, the refusal to cooperate with ICE usually comes from a police chief, a sheriff or a government attorney-not necessarily a politician looking to extend an act of mercy toward illegal ­immigrants.

Republican presidential contenders on the campaign trail have avoided such details. Others have joined Cruz in demanding that local governments face penalties for not assisting immigration officials. At times, the candidates have blasted sanctuary cities while standing in one.

“We will finally, finally, finally secure the borders and end sanctuary cities," Cruz said to applause recently in the public library in Onawa, Iowa— in a county that has a sanctuary ­policy.

“If you are a sanctuary city, you will lose your federal funding,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) declared this month to an eager audience at a hotel in Coralville, Iowa, which also has a sanctuary policy.

“Crap” is the word that Donald Trump, the GOP front-runner, has used across the state to describe sanctuary cities....

Lynne Branigan, a former Council Bluffs City Council member, expressed shock when a reporter told her that her own community was deemed as having a sanctuary policy.

“Based on what happened in California, I absolutely don’t agree with sanctuary status,” Branigan said. “I’m not versed in all it means, but believe me, I’m going to find out.”...

Nearby meat-packaging towns such as Denison have seen significant demographic shifts as companies employed more immigrants who would accept lower wages."...

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Commenter to Washington Post notes desire to exploit illegal immigrant labor drives major political donors: 

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"tacocat 1:54 AM EST
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All of those meat processing plants exploit the illegal immigrant labor market. Why wouldn't local governments cave into their donor base."

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"Kiowa100 1:54 AM EST
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You self described intellectuals in the "progressive" press don't get it. This argument is a cheap stunt. Find a few good hearted liberals as implied representatives of the masses, a few "victims" who only want to "chase a dream" and WHAMMO - all those who disagree with your version of utopia are now racist, bigoted, ignorant morons - who for the most part been the benefactors of white privilege according to you and Garp. The fact is the intellectuals, backed by the press, have STOPPED listening to a large segment of the population - the segment who are educated and who are going in debt while funding your brilliant, but massively failing, ideas. The thought that the country is wealthy enough to fund the world, and thus has a duty to do so through uncontrolled immigration can only be thought by a non- math, non- history, non- anthropological, and non-philosophy person. Narratives, regardless of their intention, do not replace facts - they only manipulate people's unattached perception of facts. So, please do the math, learn of the cultures of those you are obviously ignorant of, study Plato, Socrates, etc., and learn from history what your ludicrous ideology will bring when mixed with immigration. Then preach at me if you dare."



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