Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to Feds: Don't Dump Illegals in My State

After the federal government surreptitiously dumped illegal immigrants in Nebraska last week without informing its governor, Republican Iowa Governor Terry Branstad told federal officials Monday that he did not want his state hosting any illegal immigrant children.

“The first thing we need to do is secure the border. I do have empathy for these kids,” Branstad said, according to the Associated Press. “But I also don’t want to send the signal that (you) send your kids to America illegally. That’s not the right message.”

Branstad also “said he was not aware of any of the children currently living in Iowa” and that his “state has not been contacted by the federal government about housing any immigrant children.”

Federal officials have been scrambling – and facing more local resistance – as the government deals with the at least 57,000 illegal immigrant children who have unlawfully crossed the border since October of last year. Officials expect at least 150,000 more will attempt to do so next year. Nearly 75% of those illegal immigrant children are from Central America.

Immigration issues could play a huge role in Iowa’s Senate race between Republican Joni Ernst, an Iraq War veteran who grew up on a farm, and Bruce Braley, the Democrat and liberal trial lawyer who was caught on tape disparaging Iowa’s farmers and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to his fellow trial layers. That race may ultimately decide which party controls the Senate.

As Breitbart News reported, “a Quinnipiac poll in December of 2013 found that 46% of Iowans would be ‘less likely’ to vote for a candidate who supports amnesty while only ‘24% said they would be more likely.'”