The killing of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts, allegedly 
at the hands of an illegal immigrant, has placed a spotlight on 
the state's Democratic party, which this summer denounced 
federal immigration laws and called for local officials not to 
enforce them.

But Iowa Democratic party officials on Wednesday would not say 
whether they stood by their immigration platform, and instead 
characterized the matter as a "partisan fight."

"The Iowa Democratic Party is going to honor the wishes of the 
Tibbetts family to let them grieve in private and will not turn 
this senseless tragedy into a partisan fight," Iowa Democratic 
Party chairman Troy Price told Fox News.

The national uproar over Tibbetts' slaying also threatens to 
upend two key House races underway in the state, which are 
considered potentially pivotal to Democrats' chances of retaking 
the House in November's midterm elections.

The 2018 Iowa Democratic Party platform, in a section entitled 
"Statement of Issues," reads: "We oppose: detaining undocumented 
minors, immigrant detention/deportation quotas, locally 
enforcing federal immigration laws, mass raids/related 
enforcement practices, religious exclusion, 'papers please,' 
unnecessary travel-bans, abrogating birthright-citizenship, 
separating minor children from their parents when they are 
trying to enter the country, internment and concentration camps."

The platform was adopted at a state convention in June. It goes 
on in a "Statement of Principles" to "affirm the Democratic 
Party