Letters to the editor

Vision Iowa’s impact in Mt. Pleasant

The mention of Vision Iowa in a recent Letter to the Editor reminded us of the impact Vision Iowa had on the conversion of the former downtown high school building in Mt. Pleasant into public library and other space.

The Vision Iowa program allocated state dollars to communities for infrastructure and attraction projects after much vetting and the leveraging of local funds from individuals, business, industry and government entities. In other words the local community had to believe in the project and come together to make it happen - Vision Iowa would then contribute the “last dollars” for approved projects.

Two decisions were key to the conversion. First, had the conversion project not been in play the school district would incur demolition cost for the empty former high school building after the new high school was constructed south of town - the school board decided to donate the old facility towards the project. Second, was the decision of the voters to join together in December 2002 to pass a City Bond Issue well beyond the 60 percent required.

Occupancy within the library building has changed somewhat over time. City offices are now upstairs having moved from the former City Hall. The Area Education Agency rented office in the lower level for a good number of years. That space has recently been made into a Discovery Center for younger children with the help of the Library Foundation.

The “saving” of the auditorium and Cottrell Gymnasium had become important to a good number of people and reason for their support of and involvement in the overall project. Both had improvements within the project.

It could have been a rubble pile – the goal of obtaining Vision Iowa funding was a big prompter to organize and proceed.

Ed Kropa and Martha Wiley

Mt. Pleasant

Let children of long-term visa holders stay in U.S.

To the editor:

The story of Laurens van Beek, a lifelong Iowan, epitomizes the struggles of a quarter million children of long term visa holders in America. Despite deep family ties to Iowa and significant contributions to the community, Laurens, after lawfully residing in the U.S. for over 17 years, was forced to leave due to current immigration policies.

The van Beeks’ relationship with Iowa began during WWII when Laurens’ grandmother began a correspondence with students at a farm school here. Their connection grew so deep that Laurens was named after one of the students his grandmother wrote to, and Iowa City even named a day in her honor!

Laurens’ family decided to move from the Netherlands to the US when he was 7, and his father eventually opened a jewelry store, employing over 30 Iowans.

Laurens did his entire schooling in Iowa, is an alumnus of the University of Iowa, and is a prominent software developer for Integrated DNA Technologies in Coralville, creating software that helped save lives during COVID-19.

Yet, Laurens was never able to secure a path to citizenship. Despite coming here legally and maintaining documented status through numerous visas, his chance to stay in this nation came down to literal luck. After three failed attempts to win the H1-B work visa lottery through no fault of his own, he was forced to separate from his colleagues, loved ones, and father–who has recently been diagnosed with kidney cancer–to go back to a country he has not set foot in since leaving 17 years ago.

Over 250,000 children of long term visa holders are caught in a similar predicament. They grow up in America under their parents’ visas but face self-deportation upon turning 21 due to extensive green card backlogs. Laurens' story undermines a misconception that this challenge only impacts populous countries.

In a recent Senate Budget Committee meeting, Laurens stressed: "My story isn’t unique, every year another 10,000 individuals like me, who grow up in this country with lawful status are forced to leave. We are America’s children.”

It's counterintuitive to educate and nurture such talent only to force them away, enabling other nations to benefit from the potential we've cultivated.

Laurens and I represent Improve the Dream, a national youth-led organization advocating for the America’s Children Act, a bipartisan bill offering a permanent solution to aging out for children of long term visa holders like us. We're gratified that 5 of our 6 Iowa congress members support this legislation, and we urge constituents to call Senator Chuck Grassley to ask him to join all his other colleagues in cosponsoring this common sense bill.

If Iowa prides itself on being a field of dreams, we must ensure those dreams are accessible to all our children.

Shristi Sharma

Documented Dreamer

Fairfield