By Rebecca Schweitzer | Des Moines, Iowa
Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa writer covering politics, healthcare, public accountability, and civic life. In response to ongoing discussions around immigration policy and its impact on Iowa communities, this piece offers perspective on what is actually happening on the ground in Des Moines and Polk County. Learn more about Rebecca Schweitzer here.
Des Moines Has Always Been a Welcoming City. Current Policy Is Changing That.
This spring Des Moines families who were looking forward to the annual Wild Lights lantern festival at Blank Park Zoo got disappointing news. The event, a beloved Des Moines tradition featuring dozens of handcrafted illuminated Asian lanterns created by skilled artisans, has been canceled. The reason is straightforward: the international workers who create the lantern displays were denied visas and could not get to Des Moines in time.
That is not just a canceled event. It is a concrete example of how federal immigration policy is showing up in everyday life in Polk County, Iowa. A Des Moines tradition that has generated around $1.7 million in revenue for Blank Park Zoo over five years is gone this spring because skilled artisans from another country cannot get approval to come here and do their work.
This is what immigration policy looks like when it reaches your neighborhood.
Iowa Has a Long History of Welcoming Newcomers
It is worth remembering where Iowa comes from on this issue.
In the 1970s Iowa Governor Robert Ray, a Republican, made a decision that defined Iowa's identity for generations. When Tai Dam refugees were fleeing Southeast Asia after the fall of Saigon, Governor Ray stepped forward and welcomed them to Iowa. He did not wait for political cover or poll approval. He acted because it was the right thing to do and because he understood that welcoming people who needed a home was consistent with Iowa values.
Iowa became a national model for refugee resettlement because of that decision. Des Moines has been a resettlement city ever since, welcoming refugees from Afghanistan, Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and dozens of other countries. The International Rescue Committee has operated in Des Moines since 2010. Lutheran Services in Iowa, Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, and the Refugee Alliance of Central Iowa have built networks of support that have helped thousands of families start new lives right here in Polk County.
This is not a recent development. It is a decades long tradition woven into the fabric of who Des Moines is. You can read more about that perspective here.
What Is Happening Now in Des Moines and Polk County
The current federal approach to immigration is cutting against that tradition in ways that are showing up directly in Des Moines and across Iowa.
Refugee resettlement funding was ordered to stop by the Trump administration, leaving newly arrived Iowans scrambling for housing, food assistance, and job placement support. Organizations that have spent years building resettlement capacity in Des Moines are now working with drastically reduced resources to serve people who came here legally and were promised support.
Across Iowa, SNAP enrollment has fallen about 6 percent since last summer. Immigrant families are leaving the program in part because fear and uncertainty about what participation means for their immigration status. People who need food assistance are going without it because the political climate has made them afraid to ask for help.
Now Iowa is directly participating in a federal immigration enforcement operation called Operation ICE Wall. Court records show the Iowa State Patrol is working with ICE agents at interstate weigh stations along Interstate 80, pulling over commercial truck drivers and handing them to ICE for detention. Some of those drivers had valid work authorization and pending asylum applications. They ended up in the Polk County jail anyway.
One of those cases involved Suraj Vasal, a truck driver from India who came to the United States four years ago seeking asylum and was released on his own recognizance. He was pulled over on Interstate 80 in Iowa for failing to stop at a weigh station, ticketed, and then handed to ICE who transferred him to the Polk County Jail. A federal judge later criticized the government for violating his rights during a bond hearing, noting that Vasal had a job, paid his taxes, had a pending asylum case, and had no criminal history other than a traffic violation.
Another case involved a driver from Pakistan who had been granted work authorization and had a pending asylum application. He ended up in an Iowa jail anyway. A University of Iowa professor is also suing after his path to citizenship was stopped at the final step without explanation after years of following the legal process.
Supporters of stricter enforcement argue it is necessary for security and order. But what we are seeing in Des Moines raises a different question: who is actually being affected?
Who Iowa Actually Is
Immigration policy debates at the national level often deal in abstractions, border numbers, enforcement metrics, policy frameworks. What gets lost in those abstractions is the human reality of what welcoming communities actually look like and what they produce.
Des Moines is a more vibrant, more economically dynamic, and more culturally rich city because of the generations of immigrants and refugees who came here and made it their home. The restaurants, the businesses, the community organizations, the workforce contributions, these are not abstractions. They are the fabric of this city.
Iowa's history on this issue is not partisan. Governor Robert Ray was a Republican who understood that welcoming people was an Iowa value, not a party value. The bipartisan tradition of Iowa as a place that opens its doors is something worth protecting regardless of where you stand politically.
What is happening now is not protecting Iowa. Canceling a beloved Des Moines community event because skilled workers cannot get visas is not strength. Detaining truck drivers in Polk County who have valid work authorization and pending asylum applications is not security. Leaving newly arrived families without food and housing support is not compassion.
The question is whether national policy will reflect who Iowa actually is.
Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa writer covering politics, immigration, and public accountability. Read more at iowaraisedrebeccaschweitzerunfiltered.com. Learn more about Rebecca Schweitzer and what she covers here. Follow along on Medium and on X.
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