Rallies in four Iowa cities protest state immigration action
DES MOINES — Opponents of Iowa’s new immigration enforcement law held protests in four Iowa cities last night.
Enya Cid. a student at Grandview University who was born in Mexico, spoke at a rally outside the Iowa Capitol. “Politicians want to instill fear in our community,” she said. ” They want to use immigrants as scapegoats for the problems that Iowa faces, but we are not the problem. We are the solution.”
The law, which will take effect July 1, makes illegal re-entry into the U.S. a state crime and gives Iowa judges authority to order undocumented immigrants to be deported. It’s similar to a Texas law that’s on hold due to a court challenge. Critics say the law will be used to intimidate and harass Latinos and other minorities. Rachael Duang with Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice.
“I’m an American. I’m a very proud American. I’m not against our politicians or our government, but I just want to tell our government that we are the workers of this country and they should respect us,” she said at the rally in Des Moines, “and we are human.”
Governor Kim Reynolds spoke with reporters a few hours before the rallies in Davenport, Waterloo, Iowa City and Des Moines. “We welcome legal immigration. We are gracious country when it comes to that, but you know, again, if we are a country without a border and a country without laws, we are a third world country,” Reynolds said. “We are not a country and it has to stop. It is a national security crisis.”
Reynolds said Iowa law enforcement has been hamstrung in its ability to detain adults who’ve re-entered the country after being deported and, after July 1, they can be charged in state court. “We’re a country of laws and these are illegal immigrants that have illegally entered our country,” Reynolds says. “And if they’ve been denied or they’re deported, then we’ve made it a state crime.”
One of the groups that organized yesterday’s protests says they’re exploring a lawsuit to block the law from going into effect.
