
Iowans rally in opposition to SF 2340, a new immigration law that would undercut federal immigration law, on May 9, 2024. (Avery Staker/ Iowa Starting Line)
I saw a few “Free Kilmar” signs at the latest protest I covered this weekend, and for good reason: Folks are worried about what it means that the Trump administration is deporting people directly to a foreign torture prison with the flimsiest justification, and with no trial whatsoever.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia came to this country at age 16 and is a SMART union member with a federal permit to work in the United States.
If his case isn’t rectified—if our country can continue to brazenly take people who are legally here from their homes and put them on planes directly to prisons without criminal charges or trials—it spells dire consequences for our democracy and human rights, and will particularly come down hardest on recent immigrants.
That’s a problem for us in Iowa, where recent immigrants are the entire reason our state is (barely) growing at all. They’re a not-insignificant part of our workforce, particularly in meatpacking, construction, and other difficult jobs.
They came to this country, and to Iowa, for the promise of work and a better life than they left behind—like many of my own ancestors did. They remember when ICE came for Postville, and how that devastated the entire community for years. And they’re scared to death that they or their families, friends, or coworkers will be targeted next.
Chuy Renteria, a Substacker from Southeast Iowa, put this in context:
“To some people, I look like a mad, tattooed brown man. And more and more, that seems like all the justification one needs. … I can’t afford to be complacent to the atrocity of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s kidnapping and illegal detention on foreign soil. Because I see the short leap it takes to get to me.”
What’s being done about it?
- The Iowa City Catholic Worker House is hosting a May Day March “to stop deportations and keep families together” next Thursday, May 1, from 6-8 p.m.; you can learn more and RSVP here.
- If you want to “learn how to respond to ICE enforcement, support impacted families, and organize local defense,” sign up for their Rapid Response Team Training here.
- There’s also a new lawsuit challenging ICE’s revocation of student visas at the University of Iowa.
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Since day one, our goal here at Iowa Starting Line has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Iowan families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.


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