It’s Wednesday, June 12, 2024.

Recent Iowa immigrants and allies are still fighting against an Iowa immigration law they say unfairly discriminates against and targets them.

Lawyers with the US Department of Justice and the American Immigration Council argued in court Monday that a judge should stop SF 2340 from going into effect July 1.

The law would allow state courts to deport people if they’ve ever been deported before, even if they’re now legal US residents.

“The state has tried to set up its own deportation system, which, frankly, makes no sense and is clearly unconstitutional,” said Emma Winger, deputy legal director for the American Immigration Council. The nonprofit is also arguing against Iowa’s law.

The law is set to go into effect July 1, but opponents hope the judge will rule before then.

Iowans rally in opposition to SF 2340, a new immigration law that targets legal US residents, on May 9, 2024. (Avery Staker/Iowa Starting Line)

More than 150 people came to the Des Moines hearing on Monday from Iowa City and Waterloo in protest.

“Our message to Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is: Stop defending this unconstitutional, anti-God law,” said Father Nils Hernandez of Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Waterloo.

With more than 500 members in the Iowa City area, community organization Escucha Mi Voz said if the law goes into effect July 1, they will plan a Day Without an Immigrant strike that day.

“Immigration is the foundation of our nation, and immigrants have historically worked in some of the most essential, hardest, and dangerous jobs,” said Iowa Federation of Labor President Charlie Wishman. “Our nation needs real comprehensive immigration reform, not absurd political theater that uses people as pawns.“

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Amie Rivers

Community Editor, Iowa Starting Line

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This week’s Iowa worker news:

(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Deere moving some production to Mexico: The agricultural equipment manufacturer announced last week it was planning to “acquire land in Ramos, Mexico” in order to more cheaply make mid-frame skid steer loaders and compact track loaders. An unspecified number of workers who make those in Dubuque will lose their jobs in the next two years. That’s in addition to the hundreds of workers Deere laid off in Ankeny, Waterloo, and Moline, Illinois, over the past few months.
Deere agrees to settlement in discrimination suit: This week, Deere agreed to pay $1.1 million in back wages and interest to 196 jobseekers in Waterloo and 36 in Ankeny, and offer 53 of those applicants jobs. According to the Department of Labor, the applicants were discriminated against because they were Black.
New rule to help chicken farmers: A proposed US Department of Agriculture rule would prohibit companies from deducting the base pay of chicken farmers in a year when demand is down. That would be huge in Iowa, the country’s top chicken-producing state.
Cut the fees: COGS, the graduate worker union at Iowa, plans to protest rising graduate student fees during the Board of Regents meeting today at 3 p.m. in Iowa City.
Maybe do less child labor violations: That was the warning from the Iowa Restaurant Association in its May 31 newsletter to member restaurants, saying it had gotten reports of a widespread crackdown and fines from US Department of Labor inspectors. “We are encouraging people to revert to federal work hours for teens under age 16 at this time,” the industry group, which successfully lobbied for relaxed child labor standards in Iowa this year, said. (To be fair, the feds warned ya!)
Trump says he’d cut taxes on tips during a campaign rally in Las Vegas this week. Worker advocates agreed tipped workers have it rough, but they don’t think Trump is serious. “Nevada workers are smart enough to know the difference between real solutions and wild campaign promises from a convicted felon,” said Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for Culinary Workers Union Local 226.
Biden is actually cutting costs and making corporations mad: From credit card late fees to bringing down the cost of prescription drugs and more, here’s a short list of how the President has been cutting costs for the working class (and getting sued in the process).
Iowa workers unionizing:
– Twenty-one full- and part-time workers at a Bruegger’s Bagels in Iowa City (there are two locations, and the filing doesn’t specify which one) filed June 3 to be represented by the Bruegger’s Workers United union.

– Thirty-six bricklayers and mason workers at 5G Masonry/Rosales Masonry—employed in Boone, Dallas, Jasper, Madison, Marion, Polk, Story and Warren counties—filed June 6 to be represented by Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 3 in Marshalltown.
Iowa layoffs coming up:
– Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off seven workers by June 16, and another 40 workers by June 30.
– On With Life in Glenwood is laying off 31 workers by June 17.
– John Deere Waterloo Works in Waterloo is laying off 192 workers by June 21.

– PSSI in Perry is laying off 76 workers by June 28.
– Tyson Foods in Perry is closing and laying off 1,276 workers by June 28 (read more about that here).
– DTG2Go in Storm Lake is closing and laying off five workers by June 30.
– Family Resources Inc. in Davenport is laying off 26 workers by June 30.
– Glenwood Resource Center in Glenwood is closing and laying off 235 workers by June 30 (read more about that here).