Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is raiding workplaces across the country, wearing tactical gear (and at times arriving in armored vehicles) just to arrest low-wage workers without criminal records.
Deportations in this country aren’t new; what’s troubling is that President Trump is trying to give police even more immunity and less oversight, paving the way for human rights abuses. (Iowa Republicans also want less oversight.)
ICE’s deportees include those fighting for better working conditions, continuing Trump’s and Project 2025’s goal of going after worker rights for the benefit of corporations. Their fellow workers are fighting back—and judges are cracking down on many of ICE’s arrests. And Trump’s attacks on temporary protected status, or TPS—affecting workers who had otherwise been here legally—are already impacting not only workers, but the broader economy.
In Iowa, only one law enforcement agency—the Iowa Department of Public Safety—has a 287(g) agreement with ICE, which deputizes them to perform immigration enforcement duties.
But that’s not enough: The National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) recently threatened county sheriffs across the country to sign 287(g) agreements or risk being listed publicly as “sanctuary jurisdictions.”
Dubuque County Iowa Sheriff Joseph Kennedy sent his county supervisors a letter telling them he would not sign one, and warned it could put a target on their back.
But as of the end of May, no Iowa communities have been named to Trump’s list—and the outcry forced not only the NSA to reverse course, but for the “sanctuary jurisdiction” list to be taken down entirely.
“Dubuque County Sheriff Kennedy’s principled stance should serve as a model for all county sheriffs to follow,” said Alejandra Escobar of Escucha Mi Voz Iowa, an immigration rights group which mobilized its members to send more than 800 emails to the NSA.
The group isn’t stopping there: They’re asking Iowans to call Iowa DPS Commissioner Stephan Bayens at 515-725-6182, and Gov. Kim Reynolds at 515-281-5211, to demand they disband the Iowa ICE Task Force entirely.
“It’s clearer than ever that local organizing is the strongest antidote to the politics of mass deportations,” said Escucha Mi Voz Iowa member Ninoska Campos. “Sustained people power is how we protect our families and defend our constitutional rights.”
Have you spotted ICE in Iowa? Email me.
