Kim Reynolds suggests unvaccinated immigrants are contributing to rising COVID-19 cases

Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday that "part of the problem" with rising COVID-19 cases in the United States is unvaccinated immigrants entering the country via the southern border.

"Part of the problem is the southern border is open and we’ve got 88 countries that are coming across the border and they don’t have vaccines so none of them are vaccinated and they’re getting dispersed throughout the country," Reynolds told reporters Tuesday.

Reynolds spokesperson, Pat Garrett, shared a Fox News article reporting that 135 detainees in the Rio Grande Valley sector in Texas tested positive for COVID-19 in the first two weeks of July, an increase compared to previous months.

Republicans like Reynolds have criticized President Joe Biden's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border this year, as apprehensions have risen. Reynolds sent 29 Iowa State Patrol troopers to the U.S.-Mexico border this month at the request of Texas and will hold a news conference about the deployment on Wednesday.

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Joe Henry, state political director for the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa, said Reynolds' comments Tuesday amount to "hate-mongering."

"This has nothing to do with immigrants," he said.

Instead, Henry said, Reynolds hasn't done enough to make sure Iowans are vaccinated.

"For her to cry wolf about this doesn’t seem to make sense in light of the fact that she hasn’t done the work here in Iowa to make sure that everybody gets vaccinated," he said.

About 49% of Iowa's 3.2 million residents are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among adults, 61% are fully vaccinated and 65% have received at least one shot. Those figures have barely budged in recent weeks, as demand for the shots has plummeted.

More:Here’s what we know about Iowa State Patrol troopers deploying to the US-Mexico border

Reynolds said in April she hoped 75% of Iowa adults would be vaccinated by the end of June. Although Iowa fell short of that goal, the governor touted the state's vaccination numbers Tuesday, saying she was encouraged while also acknowledging the vaccination rate has slowed. COVID-19 infections are increasing nationwide because of the spread of the highly contagious delta variant of the virus. In Iowa, hospitalizations and case numbers have begun curving back up after relatively low case counts in June.

Patricia Ritchie, the vice chair of the Iowa Democratic Party's Latinx Caucus, said Reynolds' comments about the border help create a culture where Latino Iowans face discrimination and misconceptions.

"I just think that she needs to be educated in what is appropriate, as far as cultural diversity," Ritchie said. "I take it as nobody has taken the time to explain it to her."

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Reynolds also said Tuesday that Iowa hospitals have the right to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, while leaving the door open for the Iowa Legislature to address the subject. Last week, seventeen Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Trinity Health raising concerns about its decision to require employees to be vaccinated, including in Iowa.

The governor made her comments at Starts Right Here, a Des Moines-based youth empowerment nonprofit that on Tuesday received a $50,000 grant from Amerigroup Iowa to support at-risk youth in obtaining high school diplomas.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.