With Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials remaining present in the Des Moines metropolitan area and the location of detainment centers in both Polk County and Pottawattamie County, some students hold a rising concern for their own safety and education.
Sonya Dolo, a third-year student at Drake and president of the African-Caribbean Student Association, feels as though the nation is reliving the past.
“This is a serious issue that is occurring right now,” Dolo said. “It’s really devastating and sad to hear. We’re supposed to be a country built [on] immigrants, but we’re setting a huge majority of them back because people have certain ill will towards certain groups.”
ICE has more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel working in over 400 offices across the United States and globally as of Sept. 11. The New York Times reported that there has been an over 276% increase in immigration arrests in Iowa since Trump took office, when compared with rates in 2024.
On Sept. 30, an unnamed 18-year-old Des Moines Public School student was detained after a routine immigration check-in at the Neal Smith Federal Building in Des Moines. The student was briefly held at the building before being taken to the Hardin County Jail in Eldora and later sent to a Louisiana detention center. The student was later deported to a Central American country and was not heard from until Oct. 12.
Previous instances of ICE’s presence in the Des Moines Public School System revolved around the recent detainment of Ian Roberts. On Sept. 26, the former school superintendent fled from ICE as well as Iowa State Patrol officers and was found to have a loaded handgun, hunting knife and $3,000 cash in his vehicle. Roberts has since resigned from his position with a trial date set for March. 2 that was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
Due to the current presence of ICE officials in Des Moines, Dolo and other organizations on campus are concerned and hesitant to host events in order to avoid drawing the wrong attention towards their members.
“I have members on my board that are international students, here for school, and they don’t want to risk [their positions] or the factor of them getting sent back. At the end of the day, like, it’s still something that we just have to be cautious of [because organizations] don’t want to put the community in general at risk of anything,” Dolo said.
La Fuerza Latina, a multicultural organization at Drake for Latinx students, continues to host monitored events here on campus and repost resources from Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice to provide several references for the Latino community members to utilize in the instance that they themselves, or someone they know, has an encounter with ICE officers.
“Together we can stand strong, support one another, and build a future where everyone feels safe, valued, and empowered.” Drake’s La Fuerza Latina recently said in an Instagram post regarding the safety of its members.
Beginning Sept. 8 of this year, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that 20 of Iowa’s National Guard soldiers will assist in providing aid to Iowan-based ICE officials regarding immigration law enforcement. This authorization was approved through Nov. 15 by the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.
“While the Iowa National Guard has not yet received an order from the [Department of Defense], it is understood that the mission will be for clerical, logistical and administrative assistance,” said Mason Mauro, a spokesperson for Governor Reynolds, in an interview with KTVO. “If mobilized, the Iowa National Guard would serve a federal mission under Title 32-502F status and operate under state control.”
In that same interview, Reynolds said she is ready to have the Iowa National Guard step up and assist with ICE if needed.
“By providing administrative and logistical support, the Iowa National Guard will free up local ICE officials to continue their work outside the office to enforce the law and keep our state safe,” said Reynolds in a reported press release regarding the issue.
According to a recent report given by the American Immigration Council, 7.4% of U.S. citizen children live with at least one undocumented family member, and 5.9% of US children live with at least one undocumented parent, causing the fear of ICE to have a major impact on students in the classroom.
“If you’re worried about your parents being taken and coming home to an empty house, how are you gonna learn anything? How are you [going to] be motivated to go to school and to learn anything?” said Jake Grobe, active member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Iowa and DMPS school bus driver.
The national party has hosted many events in the Des Moines metropolitan area to educate individuals on how they can defend their rights as citizens against ICE.
“We believe that there is no human that is illegal,” Grobe said. “Whether you’ve lived here your entire life or you just moved here yesterday, you deserve to be here if you want to be here because this country would fall apart without immigrants.”
With the ICE remaining present in six of Iowa’s county jails, Woodbury, Pottawattamie, Polk, Hardin, Linn and Muscatine, concern and awareness within the Des Moines community and students is high.
Dolo expressed concern regarding the reports of ICE arrests, reflecting the fear of many in the Des Moines educational community as a whole, especially after Roberts’ detainment.
“If someone such [as a] high school [superintendent can get taken] or detained, then like, what about me?” Dolo said.
