About 100 people were chanting “Immigrants are welcome here,” as a rally by the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice (Iowa MMJ) began in the rotunda of the Iowa State Capitol on Wednesday afternoon. The rally was the culmination of Iowa MMJ’s annual advocacy day at the Capitol.
The Des Moines-based nonprofit advocates on behalf of and provides legal services to immigrants in the state, and promotes community organizing.
“It is communities, it’s immigrants that make Iowa great, that make Iowa thrive, that have revived our communities, that have brought in jobs, businesses, entrepreneurial spirit, students who are sharing their knowledge and their skills with us and we should not be creating any more barriers,” Vanessa Marcano-Kelly, Iowa MMJ’s board chair, told told the people gathered in the rotunda.
But Marcano-Kelly said that some of the bills introduced in the legislature this session, along with anti-immigrant sentiments expressed by some lawmakers, feel “like an attack against the immigrant community. It’s very unfair.”
Marcano-Kelly reminded everyone that things have been very different in the past.
“Historically, Iowa has been a place that has welcomed immigrants. We are characterized by being nice to our neighbors. So we are trying to tell them, remember that, go back to basics and remember what Iowa is really about,” she said.
The rally began just hours after news broke of the death of former Iowa First Lady Billie Lee Ray at age 97. Along with her husband Robert Ray, who served as governor from 1969 to 1983, Billie Lee Ray encouraged and actively assisted in the resettlement in Iowa of 10,000 refugees from Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, beginning shortly after the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. Both continued their work helping refugees after Gov. Ray, who died in 2018 at age 89, left office.
Rev. Dr. Lilian Gallo Seagren, Central District Superintendent of the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church, was one of the clergy members who participated in Wednesday’s rally. Seagren, who is originally from the Philippines and came to Iowa in 1999, told the people in rotunda she considered herself “a privileged immigrant.”
“I was not running away from violence,” Seagren said. “I was not running away from poverty. I came here as a university student.”
She said she had been able to “flourish” in Iowa thanks to the kindness and support of neighbors and church members. Seagren told a story about her early years in the pulpit, when congregants sometimes had trouble understanding her sermons because of her accent, and the reassurance and advice an older member of the congregation gave her.
“Just be you,” he said.
Seagren reminded listeners, “We are here to protect each other and to help each other flourish.”
The importance of community was something America Zaragoza of Zamora Fresh Market in Marshalltown also addressed when she spoke at the rally. The market, which has become a fixture on Marshalltown’s Main Street, was founded by her parents in August 2012 after they moved to Iowa from Illinois. It’s named for her father and mother’s hometown in Mexico. Zamora Fresh Market carries a wide variety of items, and even has its own restaurant. But it’s more than just a business, Zaragoza explained.
“It is a hub for resources when there’s no place for immigrants, or non-English-speaking immigrants, to find resources right away,” she said. “… It’s a great resource, not only for groceries, but just being an ally for the community.”
As the rally drew to close, Vanessa Marcano-Kelly addressed the crowd again, thanking them for being there and delivering a final message.
“Immigrants are becoming so many things, whether it is our community, our love, our families, the labor that we provide, that education, that passion, those beautiful cultures, the delicious food, all of those different things, and we are human beings. That inherently gives us value,” she said.
The crowd chanted, “Love, not hate, makes Iowa great.”
