Hunter
05/02/24
Over 250 area residents marched through downtown Iowa City last night to protest Iowa’s new law permitting state and local police to enforce immigration laws.
The Daily Iowan reports the protest was one of four throughout the state that organizers believe about 2000 residents in total participated.
The protest, which started at College Green Park, continued to the Pentacrest and then to the steps of City Hall. Mayor Bruce Teague participated in the march.
The new law makes it a state crime for an individual to reenter the country after being removed by deportation. A state judge could then order removal to a port of entry. Texas passed a similar law last year but is in court between the state and the Biden administration over whether states have the jurisdiction to enforce immigration laws.
The crowd carried signs saying “no human is illegal” and “keep families together” while shouting “Somos familia, no somos criminals,” meaning “we are family, we are not criminals.”
Earlier in the day, students staged a sit-in on the second floor of the Iowa Memorial Union to protest the university’s decision to dissolve the Rape Victim Advocacy Program and let it be absorbed by the Domestic Violence Intervention Program.
RVAP employee Olivia Brown gave a written statement to The Daily Iowan during the sit-in. It said, “The University of Iowa is making it clear that they do not stand with victims of sexual assault. Amid the school’s constant crisis of sexual assaults on campus, they shut down a service that hundreds use: students and surrounding communities.”
UI President Barbara Wilson said Tuesday she believes the services will be better in the larger DVIP program and hopes the transition will be seamless. DVIP will add 10-15 new positions to accommodate RVAP services and the title and crisis line will be maintained for the next 18-24 months.