
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.
Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Iowans and our future.
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.


Nurses are overworked. Rivers Hills workers hope unionization helps
Workers at River Hills Community Health Centers in south central Iowa were fed up with being overworked and seeing their patients suffer as a...

JBS workers at 2 Iowa plants win back pensions in national contract
Meatpacking workers at JBS plants across the country, including two in Iowa, just ratified a first-ever national contract across all plants....

How’s the labor market look for Iowa graduates?
Happy graduation month to Iowa's newest high school and college graduates! Though they're graduating into a strong labor market—teens and young...

651 laid off at Whirlpool in Amana
On Tuesday, news broke that 651 Iowans are soon to be laid off by June 1 from Whirlpool in Amana. That's about a third of its workforce. It's the...

How to protect your trans coworkers now that Iowa won’t
Now that Iowa Republicans have passed their latest bill attempting to force us all into their pretend gender binary (which won't go into effect...

Bettendorf Starbucks could be 3rd in Iowa to unionize
As Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) members representing more than 500 Starbucks stores nationwide prepare for mediation with their company—a huge...