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This week, families across our state are unboxing their Thanksgiving décor, choosing table cloths, and deciding who is going to be responsible for what dish this coming Thursday. It’s that time of the year when our communities come together, put family disputes aside and get in the holiday spirit. Unfortunately, this holiday season comes with a different taste for many as hundreds of Iowa families will eat their Thanksgiving meals with uncertainty, anxiety and fear.
The lives of hundreds of families across our states are at risk thanks to Donald Trump’s draconian immigration policies. Many of your immigrant friends and neighbors are already being subjected to intimidation from immigration authorities, while others are facing deportation. These are the consequence of the decisions and executive orders the commander in chief has implemented on immigration, and the reason why this holiday season families in our state will not be able to shake the uncertainty of their minds and get in the holiday spirit like in years past.
It’s no secrete that Donald Trump’s goal is to deport as many undocumented immigrants as he can. Iowa has already witnessed the destructive effects mass deportations can have on our state. We lived it through the Postville Raid in 2006, and we are now witnessing the social and economical effects of the Trump’s administration’s xenophobic agenda is having in our beautiful state.
Make no mistake, Donald Trump is doing everything he promised during his campaign. His administration’s goal is to deport as many immigrants as possible, and two of their main targets are Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) beneficiaries. This is not a drill nor an exaggeration, this is reality. Donald Trump wants to deport hard working Iowans like myself, which is why I call on my community to take action.
Iowa Nice must go beyond saying hello to strangers, it must mean fighting against xenophobia, racism and the persecution of undocumented Iowans.
Trump has upended the lives of nearly 3,000 Iowans who have gone to college, started a family and contribute to their local communities by ending the DACA program. Now the future of these Iowans hinges on the actions of Congress, and whether they are able to pass legislation to allow these young people to live free from the fear of deportation.
TPS beneficiaries are a target as well. For over three decades, TPS has granted similar certain protections to immigrants from countries that have endure horrific natural disasters and were residing in the United States at the time of the catastrophe. TPS was a way the United States government helped those countries to recover. Now, their protection has been terminated and are facing uncertainty by returning to a country that may have not fully recovered from the impact of natural disaster or may persecute them for a variety of reasons.
To ignore the threat recipients of DACA and TPS and the entire undocumented community is to stand on the wrong side of history.