Red state AG moves to DEFUND an entire county that refuses to help ICE

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, a Republican, is trying to defund a whole county over its sheriff’s refusal to toe the line on immigration.

The drama over Winneshiek County began in early February when Sheriff Dan Marx published a Facebook post allegedly pledging not to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers.

“Sheriff Marx said in a February 4 Facebook post that he ‘will make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt their actions from moving forward,’ when talking about ICE detainers,” according to a press release from Bird’s office.

“He also says he has a ‘long-time stance on not recognizing detainers,’” the press release continues.

Sanctuary counties are illegal under IA law.

Sheriff Marx was given the chance to fix his state-law violation, but he refused—even at a cost to his county.

He left us no choice but to take the case to court to enforce the law & ensure cooperation with immigration enforcement. pic.twitter.com/4gHlryqD3M

— Iowa AG Brenna Bird (@AGIowa) March 27, 2025

After Marx’s post went up, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, also a Republican, filed a complaint with Bird’s office about the post, prompting Bird’s office to open an investigation.

Fast-forward to late March, when Bird concluded that the Facebook post from Feb. 4th had “violated Iowa Code Chapter 27A, which prohibits state law enforcement from discouraging cooperation with federal immigration authorities.”

“Iowa law makes clear that there are no sanctuary counties,” she said in a statement at the time. “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.”

Today, I sent a letter to the Winneshiek County Sheriff and Board of Supervisors, reminding them of their obligation to follow state law and comply with ICE’s enforcement of our immigration laws. pic.twitter.com/CC7XEuim9W

— Gov. Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) February 6, 2025

Bird then ordered Marx to “fix” his mistake by deleting his original Facebook post and replacing it with one written by the attorney general’s staffers.

Marx, to his credit, did delete his original post. However, he refused to post a new one featuring the message written by Bird’s staffers.

“The language of the post proposed by the Attorney General was not acceptable to the County,” he instead wrote. “To demonstrate good faith, we chose to take the post down, and for the sake of transparency to the people of Winneshiek County, we are posting, below, our February 14, 2025, response to the AG’s request for information.”

Look:

This didn’t please Bird.

“Sanctuary counties are illegal under Iowa law,” she said in a statement. “Sheriff Marx was given the chance to retract his statement, follow the law, and honor ICE detainers, but he refused—even at a cost to his home county. He left us with no choice but to take the case to court to enforce our laws and ensure cooperation with federal immigration authorities.”

She subsequently filed a suit accusing Marx of “violating the state sanctuary county law by discouraging law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.”

The suit further demands that Winneshiek County be stripped of federal funding until Marx complies with Bird’s orders.

However, the lawsuit reportedly admits that, despite what Marx posted to Facebook, he’s complied with “Every single ICE detainer request made.”

Bird nevertheless doubled down on her suit in remarks made to Fox News.

“[I] gave the Sheriff an opportunity to fix his state-law violation and cooperate with immigration enforcement, but he refused—knowing that it would cost his home community,” she said. “All he has to do to end this is fix the problem and follow the law.”

“Years of a Biden-Harris border invasion takes a serious toll—even on Iowa, and we’re a long way away from the border. Thankfully, President Trump hit the ground running to secure the border, crack down on drug trafficking, and reduce crime. And as Iowa’s Attorney General, I will keep fighting to ensure our state cooperates with federal immigration authorities to keep our communities safe,” she added.

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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