Nadie decide donde nacer, que manos y piernas tener, con que oídos oír o con que ojos ver Algunos nos enaltece el génesis de la sangre y otros cuantos la esconden, guardando en el fondo las semillas de quienes son y fueron ¿Acaso se sonroja o sufre el halcón, delfín, o escorpión por llevar […]
U.S. immigration
Posted inStatewide
Gov. Reynolds is sending state troops to the Texas border (again), spending federal COVID relief funds
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced on Wednesday that she is deploying 109 members of the Iowa National Guard to Texas, along with officers of the Iowa State Patrol, to assist Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s state-level border control program, Operation Lone Star. “The deployment will last until Sept. 1, 2023, with the mission of deterring illegal border […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Trump administration says international students can’t stay in U.S. if they are only taking online courses
As universities increasingly turn to online instruction to continue classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration has decided that international students won’t be permitted to stay in the United States if they are not receiving in-person instruction. “The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The ‘long and terrifying’ journey of two friends fleeing India for Iowa City
Shubham Singh is lean, 5-foot-5 and just 22 years old. Once a civil engineering student at a technology institute in India, now Singh works in the kitchen at Masala, an Indian restaurant here in Iowa City. He is waiting for his request for political asylum to be processed by U.S. immigration. We drink tea on his afternoon break, and he tells me the
Posted inCommunity/News
Protesters stand up for immigrant rights outside Cedar Rapids ICE offices
A group of activists and community members gathered on the south side of Cedar Rapids Thursday afternoon outside a nondescript building with a tiny sign: “Homeland Security.” They were protesting the detention of Asucena Natareno Ramirez, who had been detained following a routine check-in at the Cedar Rapids office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Posted inCommunity/News
Interview: Writer José Orduña on the U.S.’ inconsistent immigration policies, Trump rhetoric and the scapegoating of migrants
José Orduña reading Prairie Lights — Thursday, Apr. 21 at 7 p.m. In José Orduña’s recently published debut, The Weight of Shadows: A Memoir of Immigration, he explores his path through the naturalization process, from his early life as a “removable alien” in Chicago, to becoming a United States citizen during his time in Iowa […]
