Iowa Democrat Senate candidate Josh Turek’s new ad with two sheriffs claims he has the support of law enforcement, but both sheriffs are on record supporting sanctuary polices, opposing the 287(g) program, and even backing amnesty proposals.
The ad released by Turek’s campaign shows Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner and Story County Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald, who are both Democrats. “As a law enforcement officer, I know Josh Turek has our back, and yours,” Fitzgerald says in the ad.
Turek, though, voted for taxpayer funding to provide welfare for illegal immigrants while in the Iowa state Senate, then launched his campaign for U.S. Senate claiming he opposed benefits for illegal immigrants.
Fitzgerald, who is the sheriff in Story County, ordered his county to stop honoring ICE detainers in 2014. “We cannot deprive somebody of their freedom without a criminal charge or a warrant for their arrest, and a detainer is neither of those,” he told the Ames Tribune.
In January 2021, Fitzgerald was a signatory of a letter in support of Alejandro Mayorkas’ confirmation to serve as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary under Joe Biden. That letter called Mayorkas a “proven leader” who “has worked to keep the nation secure.”
Under his tenure at DHS, Mayorkas oversaw four years of open-border policies that allowed millions of illegal immigrants from around the world to enter the United States in one of the largest mass migration surges in American history, and he was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2024.
Gardner, the Linn County Sheriff, refused to join the popular 287(g) program enabling local law enforcement to work with ICE. He told the Gazette in 2014, “We will no longer hold any inmates past their release time merely on an ICE hold,” a change that was “quietly implemented,” the newspaper wrote.
Linn County is listed as a “sanctuary jurisdiction” as recently as 2025 by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in a 2025 Sanctuary Jurisdiction report.
Immigration policy has been a major issue in the race between Turek and Republican nominee Ashley Hinson. In a recent debate, Turek advocated for “pathways to citizenship” while Hinson announced her endorsement by the National Border Patrol Council.
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