Iowa AG Brenna Bird defends Trump birthright citizenship order

DES MOINES — Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is leading a legal brief in support of President Donald Trump’s executive order to redefine birthright citizenship.

Bird was joined by 19 other Republican state attorneys general who signed onto the brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump signed an executive order his first day in office that argues children born in the United States are citizens only if they have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident, upending more than a century of U.S. legal precedent.

Dozens of states and several other groups sued the Trump administration, arguing the executive order violates the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

The executive order would deny citizenship to those born after Feb. 19 (when the order was set to take effect) whose parents are in the country illegally. It forbids U.S. agencies from issuing any document or accepting any state, local or other government document recognizing citizenship for such children.

The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to partly allow the restrictions while legal challenges play out after district judges in three states blocked the executive order nationwide, and after federal appeals courts rejected the administration’s requests.

Bird and the Trump administration argue the 14th Amendment does not grant automatic citizenship to children born to individuals who were not lawfully and permanently present in the United States.

“This case is not about whether birthright citizenship is guaranteed under our Constitution,” Bird writes. “ … Instead, the proper framing of this case asks where the limits of birthright citizenship end.”

Bird, however, argues those in the country unlawfully are not subject to the complete jurisdiction of the United States, and are therefore not entitled to birthright citizenship under the Constitution.

“The Executive Order accurately reflects that the text, history, and tradition of the Constitution does not guarantee birthright citizenship to illegal aliens,” the brief states.

Opponents of pesticide shield law urge Iowa House to kill legislation

During a press conference held by opponents to legislation that would shield pesticide companies from lawsuits over warning labeling on their products to inform consumers of health risks, Democratic Rep. Megan Srinivas of Des Moines said House lawmakers in both parties have concerns about the legislation.

As the second legislative deadline of the session approaches, Iowa House lawmakers have yet to take up Senate File 394, which passed out of the Senate 25-21 with six Republicans joining all Democrats to vote against it.

“We have legislators who are talking about shielding companies and prioritizing corporate profits over the lives of Iowans and their ability to get health care when they need it most,” Srinivas said during the press conference. “This bill only gives corporate profits a boost.”

Iowa Senate lawmakers passed the bill in 2024, but the House did not take up the legislation.

The bill would shield pesticide companies like Bayer, the company that owns glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup, which is used by farmers across the state, from liability over failure to warn about the product’s health risks like cancer.

The legislation has received pushback from environmental organizers and Iowans from across the state who say glyphosate has caused them or their loved ones to develop cancer, including Jenny Turner of West Des Moines, who believes Roundup caused her husband’s cancer.

“Bayer would like to pretend that there is no cost,” Turner said. “Our state legislature must not help them silence people's right to redress that cost in court, we must do something about our serious cancer problem in Iowa.”

Backers of the legislation argue enhancing tort protections for pesticide companies would shield them from lawsuits are unfairly target them.

Although the EPA has cleared glyphosate of posing cancer risks, a federal district court requested the agency review that decision in 2022, according to Reuters. The International Agency for Research on Cancer determined it is "probably carcinogenic to humans."

Iowa has the fastest-growing rate of new cancers and ranks second highest in cancer rates compared to other states, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry.

Iowa Senate lawmakers advance bill on human smuggling

Legislation that would create a criminal offense for smuggling “noncitizen individuals,” which immigrant advocacy organizations argue would criminalize providing charity to immigrants, advanced out of an Iowa Senate subcommittee Tuesday.

Under House File 572, which passed the Iowa House 75-14 in March, a person who knowingly smuggles an individual with the “intent to conceal the individual from a peace officer,” or encourages an individual to enter or remain in the country by “concealing, harboring or shielding that person from detection,” would be guilty of a Class C felony that could be increased to a class A felony depending on the case.

The bill passed the House in 2024, but did not make it through the Senate.

Immigrant advocates and religious leaders packed the subcommittee room, arguing that the bill would violate Iowans’ religious freedoms by not allowing them to provide assistance including food, shelter and clothing, to immigrants.

“Does encourage or induce a person to remain in the U.S. mean providing food or shelter to an immigrant?” Tom Chapman, representing the Iowa Catholic Conference, asked lawmakers.

North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters lobbyist Felicia Hilton said the bill should focus more on companies that traffic individuals for labor.

“You address it by companies that have liens on projects for not paying people,” Hilton said. “They're never going to do it unless the law really targets what they're doing.”

Republican Sen. Scott Webster of Bettendorf argued that the legislation does not specifically target immigrants and would instead crack down on human trafficking.

“There's a lot of conversation in this room today about different situations that aren't even in this bill,” Webster said. “This bill is very narrowly tailored to knowing that somebody knows it and knowing that they're concealing them from the police on purpose.”

Webster and Republican Sen. Julian Garrett of Indianola signed on to advance the bill. Democratic Sen. Izaah Knox of Des Moines declined to advance it.

Trump re-nominates Davenport attorney for U.S. attorney

President Donald Trump re-nominated Davenport attorney David Waterman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa.

Waterman’s nomination comes months after former President Joe Biden nominated him for the same position last November. He was not confirmed before the end of Biden’s presidency.

Waterman is currently a fifth-generation attorney at Land & Waterman in Davenport, where his uncle, Iowa Supreme Court Justice Thomas Waterman, previously worked. Before that, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Appellate and Criminal Divisions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst and Sen. Chuck Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, both endorsed the nomination.

“Waterman’s decades of experience will allow him to faithfully and effectively serve the people of Iowa,” Grassley said in a news release. “He has my enthusiastic support and as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I'll work to move his nomination forward swiftly.”

Iowa’s southern district covers the state’s southernmost 47 counties and encompasses cities including Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Ames and Iowa City.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa is the chief federal law enforcement officer in the district and also is involved in civil litigation where the United States is a party.

Richard Westphal, an attorney from Davenport, has held the position since 2021.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau