We stand in firm opposition to the Iowa Department of Public Safety's participation in the notorious 287(g) Task Force Agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Iowa's ICE Task Force deputizes state troopers to enforce immigration laws, turning routine traffic stops into dragnets that target workers and trample civil rights.This program—revived despite a long track record of racial profiling—has no place in Iowa.
The prolonged traffic stop of seven Latino construction workers on their way home from work on April 18 is a clear example of the systemic abuse this program enables: pretextual traffic stops, unconstitutional search and seizure, indefinite holding without cause, intimidation, potentially unlawful questioning of passengers and collaboration with ICE—none of which make our communities safer.
The 287(g) Task Force model was already discontinued once for violating civil rights. Now the Trump and Reynolds Administrations are intent on repeating the same mistakes.
We demand:
An end to any and all deportation enforcement resulting from this stop.
Immediate termination of the 287(g) agreement in Iowa.
Full transparency and accountability for state troopers acting as ICE agents.
We believe in communities rooted in dignity, not intimidation. We call on ICE and Iowa DPS to act now.
Add your name. Stand with us.