January 26, 2026

Order vs. Chaos in Immigration Enforcement

Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility that depends on local cooperation. Local officials are not meant to enforce immigration law themselves, but when they cooperate with federal authorities—by transferring custody after criminal cases are resolved—enforcement occurs quietly and efficiently, largely out of public view. When states or cities refuse to cooperate, enforcement becomes more visible and confrontational. Resistance by local officials forces federal agents to conduct arrests in public spaces, increasing disruption, political backlash, and the likelihood of protest. Iowa looks different because its laws require cooperation and respect for the rule of law. As a result, immigration enforcement in Iowa is more orderly, less chaotic, and far less likely to trigger public unrest, illustrating how leadership and legal structure shape real-world outcomes.

Alan Ostergren Governance
February 17, 2025

Justice Should Be Blind—Not Biased Toward Bureaucrats

If you go to the Iowa Judicial Branch’s website, you will see photos that accompany the various announcements of what is going on with Iowa’s court systems. One of the photos depicts a statue of Lady Justice-the allegorical personification of the administration of justice. She is depicted blindfolded and holding a balanced set of scales.

The imagery is powerful: Justice is supposed to be delivered without regard to who the parties are and with a presumption of neutrality in the process. The scales start off even and it is up to the parties to convince Lady Justice of the merit of their case—facts and law (and nothing else) persuading her to deliver justice.

Alan Ostergren Law & Policy
December 1, 2022

New Attorney General, New Opportunities

Constraining the size and scope of the federal government is an issue that should transcend politics or partisanship. State Attorneys General have a vital role in protecting states from regulatory and administrative overreach. Iowans elected a new Attorney General to represent them in the 2022 elections. Forty-year incumbent Tom Miller was defeated by Republican Brenna Bird. Bird, who lost to […]

Alan Ostergren Law & Policy
February 15, 2022

A Victory for Free Speech on Campus

These days, it seems the last place where the free exchange of ideas is tolerated is a college campus. Too often we read about an example of a university administrator stamping out free expression and thought in the name of promoting ephemeral concepts like “social justice” or a “safe environment for learning.” Rather than promoting an environment where students and faculty exchange viewpoints and learn to live in a world where not everyone thinks alike, the trend is to treat certain views as out of bounds and subject to discipline.

Alan Ostergren Law & Policy
August 23, 2021

Legal Victories

By Alan Ostergren   Freedom movement scores important legal victories Labels are useful for describing a person’s political views, but only to a point. People who define themselves, for instance, as Conservatives, Republicans, or even Patriots, do not agree on every issue. But one issue unites political observers of all stripes: the importance of the courts. In the last few […]

Alan Ostergren Law & Policy
April 14, 2021

You Should Run for Local Office

By Alan Ostergren You should consider running for local office. No, really, you should. Later this year Iowans will elect representatives to school boards and city offices (county offices are elected in even-numbered years). These elections are nonpartisan and take little organizational effort to mount a campaign. Most of these elections are very low turnout, meaning that a person who […]

Alan Ostergren Governance
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Let’s be honest, big government is big bureaucracy, and common sense tells us big bureaucracy is ineffective. That’s why ITR Foundation works to:

  • Research principled solutions
  • Educate Iowans about our solutions
  • Activate Iowans in support of our solutions

By applying the principles of limited government, free enterprise, and the rule of law to public policy, we can ensure all Iowans will have the opportunity to succeed.

ITR Foundation set the policy groundwork for many recent taxpayer victories in Iowa:

  • Increased property tax transparency and spending restraint
  • A 3.8% flat individual income tax rate
  • Elimination of income taxes on retirement income
  • Elimination of inheritance tax
  • Creating a path to reduce corporate income tax to 5.5%
  • Phasing-out special tax incentives in the corporate tax code
  • Banning local universal basic income programs