At its formal meeting on Tuesday night, the Coralville City Council voted to cancel its contract with Flock Safety and remove the two Flock automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras already installed on city property. There had been growing community opposition to the use of Flock’s ALPR cameras in Coralville since last July when the city’s […]
Immigration
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Remember what Iowa is really about’: Advocates stress solidarity, condemn anti-immigrant attacks from lawmakers at State Capitol rally
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 […]
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: Connect the dots and join the resistance against Flock and the surveillance network
By Bryan Clark, Dawn Clark, Justin K Comer, Fenek Coney, Katie Dennis, Joseph Dutcher, Will Gunnerson, Leah Otting, Tara McGovern, Alannah Swenka, Ryan Swenka, Bailey Welchhance, Maggie Welchhance and Dan Wohlers When Ring advertised their new AI-powered Search Party function during the Super Bowl as a solution for finding lost dogs, people were rightfully concerned. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Protesters sing hymns inside Coralville Target as part of nationwide campaign pressuring the company to change its ICE stance
Emily Patton was standing outside the Target at Coral Ridge Mall a little before 2 p.m. on Sunday, holding an American flag and a sign with a simple, direct message: “ICE OUT!” Patton had driven in from Wilton to participate in a protest aimed at the Target Corporation and its relationship with ICE. “Early on, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City students walk out of class to protest ICE
Students from Iowa City West High School gathered on the Pentacrest Thursday afternoon after walking out of classes to protest the actions of ICE and the Trump administration’s immigration policies. They were joined by students from City High and Southeast Middle School, as well as students from the University of Iowa and other supporters outraged […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hundreds turn out in Cedar Rapids to support immigrants at ICE check-ins; Ashley Hinson ‘disturbed’ by legal observer trainings
More than 400 people gathered outside the ICE field office in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday to observe and support seven immigrant families attending mandatory check-in appointments. The crowd of supporters shared coffee, hot chocolate, donuts, blankets, hand warmers, books, toys for kids of the families, as well as monetary donations. As each immigrant emerged from the […]
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: Like millions of migrants, my dad is indispensable
By Anthony Arroyo, Des Moines ICE is a continuation of America’s oldest tradition: state-sanctioned violence against people of color, especially Latinos. It grows out of a history that has always needed someone to be labeled alien, invader, criminal, deportable. Language becomes a weapon. Once a group is reduced to a threat, their humanity becomes optional. For decades, the United […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Two CBP agents identified in Alex Pretti shooting
This story was originally published by ProPublica. The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez. The records viewed by ProPublica list Ochoa, 43, and Gutierrez, 35, as the shooters during the deadly encounter […]
Posted inStatewide
Damage from tariffs, Minneapolis killings go unmentioned as Trump complains to Iowans about ‘rigged elections,’ ‘paid insurrectionists’
Wind chills put temps in the single digits, but people began gathering on the street in front of the Horizon Event Center before 11 a.m. on Tuesday to protest Donald Trump. The president was in Clive, Iowa to deliver remarks on “energy and the economy,” according to the White House. Of course, Trump doesn’t really […]
Posted inCommunity/News
ICE legal observer training draws overflow crowd in Iowa City
“We are all here because we want to know what to do when ICE shows up in our communities,” Alejandra Escobar told the hundreds of people gathered for the Community Defense and Legal Observer training session Escucha Mi Voz Iowa (EMV) held in Iowa City on Saturday. Escobar is an organizer with EMV, a nonprofit […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Judge orders release of ICE detainee in Muscatine County Jail who faces capture, torture if deported
A federal judge has ordered the Muscatine County Jail to release an ICE detainee who had been incarcerated for almost a year after a judge ruled in his favor on an asylum request. Court records indicate Jose Yugar-Cruz, 36, entered the United States in July 2024 after fleeing his home country of Bolivia. In court […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Ashley Hinson blames Renee Good for being shot and killed by ICE agent
During a phone conference with Iowa reporters on Wednesday, Rep. Ashley Hinson again repeated her contention that ICE agent Jonathan Ross was justified in shooting and killing Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. The 2nd District Republican congressmember, who is currently running for the U.S. Senate, blamed Good for the shooting. “I’ve seen those videos, […]
