May Day is International Workers’ Day, a day when working people around the world celebrate worker solidarity and power. The day also honors the Haymarket Martyrs in Chicago and their fight for many worker protections, like the eight-hour workday, that we may take for granted today.
Today, May Day has become a day to honor the dignity and contributions of immigrant workers in the US. In an environment where immigrants are under direct attack from the Trump administration, Iowans are coming together to affirm that we all belong here. The fight to protect workers is not new. For generations, those in power have tried to divide workers to weaken our collective strength. But working people in Iowa know the real threats we face come from greedy and abusive people in power—not our fellow workers.
Even though immigrants only make up about 6% of the state’s population, they are a significant part of our workforce. Immigrant workers are propping up the industries that keep Iowa running, such as meatpacking, agriculture, construction, healthcare, manufacturing, and the service sector. Because many immigrants are also entrepreneurs, they are also starting businesses creating jobs and revitalizing rural towns. They are buying homes and paying taxes that support schools, roads and local services. They are raising children who will grow up, join Iowa’s workforce, and strengthen our communities for decades to come. In many rural towns, immigrant families are helping keep schools open and hospitals staffed.
The reality is that Iowa needs immigrants because they are sustaining an economy that isn’t growing and providing labor during a shortage. Unfortunately, elected officials continue to support policies that drive away the same immigrant workers that Iowa’s economy depends on. Employers are struggling to fill open jobs, our population is aging, birth rates are falling, and young workers continue to leave the state at record rates.
By 2030, more than 40% of Iowa’s working-age population will be 54 or older. The brain drain in Iowa is among the worst in the country as younger workers with degrees are leaving in droves for other states. The Iowa Business Council reported that, in 2025, Iowa lost 4,500 college graduates, costing the state billions in potential economic power. Iowa’s subpar water quality, high cancer rates, divestment from public schools, and continued attacks against vulnerable communities all contribute to driving people away. Immigration has been one of the few forces helping offset those trends.
There is a better path forward. Iowa should be working to attract workers and families—not push them away. This May Day, we call on Iowa’s elected officials to support ending the Trump administration’s mass detention and deportation machine and instead invest in our schools, our water, our healthcare, and our housing. Iowans want to see real progress on protecting immigration pathways and work authorizations that make sense for our communities while building pathways to citizenship so that our neighbors can stay here and thrive.
Iowans know that strong workers make strong communities. No matter where we were born, where we live, or what kind of work we do, we all deserve to have fair treatment and dignity on the job and to go home safely to our families at the end of the day.
