What Kilmar's Deportation Means in Iowa

[Omaha Steve]

https://link.iowastartingline.com/view/650843af904f88308d52ecb5njpt6.5qh/0295fab8

It's Thursday, Apr. 24, 2025.

Amie here. I saw a few "Free Kilmar" signs at the latest protest I covered this weekend, and for good reason: Folks are worried about what it means that the Trump administration is deporting people directly to a foreign torture prison with the flimsiest justification, and with no trial whatsoever.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia came to this country at age 16 and is a SMART union member. If his case isn't rectified—if our country can continue to brazenly take people from their homes and put them on planes directly to prisons without criminal charges or trials—it spells dire consequences for our democracy and human rights, and will particularly come down hardest on recent immigrants.

That's a problem for us in Iowa, where recent immigrants are the entire reason our state is (barely) growing at all. They're a not-insignificant part of our workforce, particularly in meatpacking, construction, and other difficult jobs.

They came to this country, and to Iowa, for the promise of work and a better life than they left behind—like many of my own ancestors did. They remember when ICE came for Postville, and how that devastated the entire community for years. And they're scared to death that they or their families, friends, or coworkers will be targeted next.

Much more at link above.

[._.]

1. And yet..

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Iowa vote for the shit stain?