(Radio Iowa) – A federal appeals court could take months to decide whether Iowa’s new immigration law that makes illegal reentry a state crime can be enforced. During a hearing in federal court yesterday (Thursday), Iowa’s Solicitor General said the law was passed in response to an immigration crisis and he argued local law enforcement should be able to arrest and charge migrants who were previously deported or denied entry into the United States. American Immigration Council Deputy Legal Director Emma Winger says some immigrants with permanent legal status could be prosecuted under Iowa’s law.

“There’s nothing that truly protects our clients from arrest, prosecution, imprisonment and then orders to leave the country other than a federal court order,” Winger says. “And that’s of course what we’re asking for.”

Winger spoke with reporters after the hearing. The U-S Department of Justice and immigrants rights groups filed the lawsuit that challenged Iowa’s law and earlier this year a federal district court judge issued an order to block it from being enforced. Iowa’s law is similar to a Texas law which has also been blocked by court action.