It’s Wednesday, July 2, 2025.

It’s happening in Iowa.

Pascual Leonardo Pedro-Pedro, 20, of West Liberty, went to a routine annual immigration check-in yesterday (Tuesday)—abiding by what the government is asking him to do as an immigrant—and was detained by ICE.

Pedro-Pedro was brought to the US as a 7-year-old by his father from Guatemala. He has no criminal record. Family and friends say he’s a graduate of West Liberty High School and a standout athlete who helped lead his soccer team to the Class 1A state tournament in 2024.

“Pascual is a kind, humble young man who came to this country seeking safety and a better life,” said Pedro-Pedro’s godfather, Father Guillermo Treviño Jr., who is also the parish priest and board president of Escucha Mi Voz Iowa.

“His detention is not just a legal issue—it’s a moral crisis.”

Fr. Treviño, left, with his godson, Pascual, celebrating the West Liberty soccer team qualifying for the Class 1A state tournament last year. (Photo from Fr. Treviño from Facebook)

Supporters of Pedro-Pedro gathered last night outside the Muscatine County Jail, where he is being held, for a prayer vigil.

Want to help? For those who want to help from wherever they are at and can make a phone call, Treviño is also encouraging supporters to call ICE offices in Cedar Rapids and Omaha to request Pedro-Pedro’s immediate release. More information and a sample script is on Treviño’s Facebook post here.

“Pascual belongs with his family and community,” Treviño wrote.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is holding nearly 60,000 people in facilities across the country, likely setting a record high, according to CBS News. To keep up with the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation goals, they’re detaining folks who are abiding by our laws: 47% of those being detained by ICE have no criminal record.

As former Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier editor Pat Kinney pointed out in his coverage of Waterloo’s pro-immigrant rally and march last night, Congress hasn’t passed meaningful immigration reform in nearly 40 years.

Yet their latest budget bill—being voted on today in the House—would pour $100 billion into more ICE and border enforcement.

Immigrants coming to Iowa are the single reason Iowa’s population hasn’t slipped into the red. As Art Cullen at the Storm Lake Times points out, they’re the backbone of the state’s economy: “Immigrants are still cutting hogs … because we absolutely need them.”

Have you heard of other ICE detentions happening in Iowa, or protests planned? What should our elected officials be doing? Email me.

Amie Rivers

Newsletter Editor, Iowa Starting Line

Member, COURIER UNITED, WGA East

Email me

Ajai Long studied at Ottumwa Job Corps. She said the program was an important part of finding her independence and financial stability. (Photo courtesy Ajai Long)

Job Corps cuts hurt Iowa’s employment: Despite its success, Ottumwa Job Corps—which offers free education and vocational training for at-risk youth ages 16 to 24—is among the 99 programs the Trump Administration is shutting down. The closure eliminates over 100 jobs in small-town Iowa, and displaces the 240 at-risk youths served by the program, like Ajai Long (pictured above). “It will be an economic blow not just to the students but also to our community at large,” said Ottumwa Mayor Rick Johnson. A federal court did grant a preliminary injunction preventing the Department of Labor from shutting down Job Corps, but so far the Ottumwa closure is still on track. (Iowa Starting Line, Bloomberg Law, TTD)
Being an Iowa union member boasts tons of benefits—from discounts at local businesses to savings on cell phone plans. If you have a union member card, learn where and how you can save in Iowa here. (Iowa Starting Line)
Nurses have some great ideas and workarounds, and some thought those ideas should be shared with others. Since the University of Iowa’s Nurse Innovators Program got started in 2022, dozens of ideas have become projects, and a few have been patented, directly from nurses working in the field. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Small farmers feeling the tariff pinch: A fifth of farm revenue is generated by exports, and high tariffs have been impacting Iowa farmers and businesses like Cedar Ridge Distillery, farmers said at a recent forum on free trade in Swisher. (KMA LAND)
Extreme heat in Iowa? We might often hear more about workers dying of extreme heat in places like Texas, California, and the South. But there are places in Iowa that are vulnerable to extreme heat, too. (Federation of American Scientists)
Working on a union: Seventeen full- and part-time baristas and shift supervisors at a Starbucks in Des Moines filed a petition to unionize June 27 with Starbucks Workers United.
Voting on a union: Two hundred health care workers at two Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center facilities in West Burlington are voting through today on whether to remain in their Communication Workers of America union. Fifteen carpenter craft employees and apprentices at Sioux City Engineering in Sioux City are voting July 14 on whether to be represented by North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters.

Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off 24 workers by July 14, 35 workers by Aug. 10, and 35 workers by Aug. 24.
Collins Aerospace is laying off 131 workers at two locations by July 18: 102 workers in Cedar Rapids and 29 workers in Decorah. Read more here.
Main Street Manor in Swea City is closing and laying off 13 workers by July 23.
American Contract Systems in Grimes is closing and laying off 62 workers by July 31. Read more here.
Lennox Industries in Marshalltown is laying off 62 workers by Aug. 1. The company previously laid off 114 workers in 2023.

I’ve been cooking more lately, which means I’m on the hunt for better recipes, which also means I’m looking for better ingredients. So I’ve been trying to shop at smaller and specialty stores for most of my groceries, and noticing a lot of empty shelves.

As an example, a couple weeks ago, I went to Natural Grocers in Cedar Falls to find they were out of garlic (!) because of “a supplier issue.” And yet, when I went to Walmart, their shelves were chock-full of garlic.

Turns out, this is a problem caused by one or only a few companies supplying everything (monopolies!), and it’s happening nationwide. Here’s why, from Justin Stofferahn.

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