Iowa?s Latino immigrants living in fear, preparing for deportation, leaders say

By Erin Murphy, Lee Des Moines Bureau

DES MOINES ? As people across the country prepare for a day of demonstration designed to show what life would be like without immigrants, families in Iowa?s immigrant community are preparing for that literal possibility.

Arrests and deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. without documentation have increased in the roughly three-month tenure of President Donald Trump, who made stronger enforcement of the country?s immigration laws a centerpiece of his campaign.

That increase has led immigrants in the country without documentation to live with a heightened sense of fear, according to leaders in Iowa?s Latino community, the largest minority population in the state at roughly 6 percent, according to census data.

?I can only speak for the Latino immigrants and the undocumented, and there is a lot of fear, a lot of apprehension and uncertainty. There are things that are happening now as a result of this current administration, and it?s got them in fear,? said Michael Reyes of Davenport, who is the state director of Iowa?s chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC. ?They?re in survival mode as it is. They?re just trying to put food on the table and get their kids educated, but now the deportations are disrupting their families. They?re splitting families up.?

Former President Barack Obama implemented programs that added protections to some undocumented immigrants, but his administration also deported more than 2.5 million people, more than any other administration in U.S. history, according to federal data.

Immigration arrests are up roughly a third under Trump, who took office in January, and arrests of immigrants with no criminal records have roughly doubled, according to recent federal data analyzed by The Washington Post and USA Today.

Joe Enriquez Henry, a national vice president for the Midwest for LULAC, said that under the Trump administration, he has observed a surge in immigration arrests in Iowa, particularly in central Iowa.

?There is a lot of concern here in central Iowa,? Henry said. ?We do see a spike in arrests happening here and across the Midwest.?

A national ?Day Without Immigrants? is planned for Monday. Latino leaders in Iowa said demonstrations are planned in Des Moines and Waterloo. Similar demonstrations were held in February, shortly after Trump took office. The goal is to highlight immigrants? contributions to the country.

Meantime, Iowa families with undocumented immigrants are preparing for the possibility that those individuals could be arrested, detained and deported at any time.

Latino leaders said fundraisers are being held to help families pay for legal costs and bail or to help families that lose a family member to deportation pay for things such as rent, groceries or other necessities. And programs have been introduced to educate undocumented immigrants on their rights and help families prepare for someone?s potential deportation by, for example, establishing power of attorney or determining what would happen to children left behind by a deported parent.

?The things that are going on within the community, it?s almost sad when they?re planning their possible or potential deportation, what are they going to do with their children, they?re looking at powers of attorney with their neighbors and friends,? Reyes said. ?These are all things that you and I would never think of or could never contemplate. ...

?I couldn?t be making plans to leave my children. Just the thought of that, it?s heartbreaking.?

But not all leaders in Iowa?s Latino immigrant community think things are so bleak.

Monica Reyes co-founded DREAM Iowa, which advocates on behalf of immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, some of whom are shielded from immigration by an Obama-era program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

Reyes, who is a so-called DREAMer with DACA protections, graduated from the University of Northern Iowa and works as a mortgage lender for a Des Moines credit union that specializes in selling mortgages to undocumented immigrants.

Reyes, whose mother is undocumented, said she thinks Iowa?s Latino immigrant community was in shock and a state of fear after the November election and during Trump?s first few weeks in office, but she said she thinks that fear has subsided and a sense of normalcy has returned to the community. She said she noticed initially undocumented Latinos were afraid to be seen in public. But that has decreased as time has passed, she said.

?All of a sudden, the fear level just skyrocketed,? said Monica Reyes, who is not related to Michael Reyes. ?Now, I feel like it?s gotten back to normal.?

Monica Reyes said although the Trump administration may be stepping up deportations, it has not yet repealed the Obama-era programs.

?Nothing?s changed. I still have DACA, and my mom is still undocumented. Nothing?s changed,? she said. ?For the majority of people, and I said this right after the election, most people have nothing to worry about. I think a lot of people are in this bucket of this unaffected group: still nothing better (in terms of federal immigration policy), but nothing worse.?

But the Trump administration has arrested more undocumented immigrants without criminal histories than did the Obama administration. And the Trump administration has given some mixed signals; recently Trump said DREAMers should not fear deportation, but shortly after, a DREAMer in California previously protected by DACA was deported to Mexico.

It was the first such deportation, according to USA Today.

?There?s a lack of clarity, and it?s making clear that anything could happen at any point in time,? Henry said. ?Young people who were classified as DACA don?t even feel comfortable. It?s a scary situation.?

And yet Monica Reyes remains optimistic. She said she is hopeful the Trump administration?s focus on immigration policy and the resulting national debate over the issue will lead to tangible results in the form of federal immigration reform, and she thinks Latinos will have a voice in that conversation.

Meantime, she said she is encouraged by the actions being taken to support families with undocumented Latino immigrants who fear they will be affected by a deportation.

?Families facing deportation and separation now have a community that is supportive and wants to help out,? Monica Reyes said. ?People are just really stepping in and wanting to help out, and that is really awesome.?