DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI} – A federal appeals court on Friday affirmed an injunction against the enforcement of a controversial Iowa immigration law. Senate File 2340, signed into law last April by Gov. Kim Reynolds, made it a state crime for a person to be in Iowa if previously denied admission to or removed from the United States. The crime would have been an aggravated misdemeanor with the potential to be a felony based on certain factors, including prior convictions.

The law drew criticism from Latino communities and logistical concerns from law enforcement, such as then-Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert, who said the department would not “even have the ability to perform this function.” The United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to block the law from going into effect ahead of its July 1, 2024 start date. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in June, saying the legislation was not defensible “as a matter of constitutional law.”

Friday, an appeals court agreed with that injunction, saying the policy would likely conflict with federal law. “The district court did not abuse its discretion in granting the preliminary injunction,” Judge Duane Benton wrote in his decision.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird issued a statement [to KCCI] after the decision was announced. The statement said “Iowa stood strong against the Biden-Harris border invasion that made every state a border state. And despite today’s court ruling, the battle is far from over. As President Trump works nationally to fix the mess Biden and Harris created on the southern border, we will continue fighting in Iowa to defend our laws and keep families safe.”