Juan’s fingers interlock as he sits on his living room couch. He squeezes them tighter as he talks about his American journey.
He came to the U.S. from Guatemala more than 30 years ago in search of a better life and became a citizen a decade ago.
But here in Sioux City, Iowa, the immigrants he knows are afraid.
"Many people live with that fear constantly, especially those with families," Juan said in Spanish.
While Juan speaks fluent English, he chose to do the taped interview in Spanish for fear that someone might recognize his voice. Harvest Public Media is using only his first name, because he doesn’t want to become a target of federal immigration officers.
Now a successful business owner, he worries about his employees who are in the U.S. without legal status.
"If I am afraid for my employees, [it's] because they are good people," Juan said.
While raids by federal agents have slipped from the headlines, immigrant communities throughout the Midwest and Great Plains remain on edge. Arrests of immigrants are up sharply since Donald Trump entered his second term in office, according to data obtained by the Deportation Data Project. States including Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas have seen arrests increase by more than 30% as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation ramped up.
Meanwhile, immigrant advocates and activists across the central U.S. are working to help their neighbors.
From Minneapolis to Sioux City
An ICE presence isn’t obvious in Sioux City, yet a growing network of allies is preparing for what could come next.
Native American activist Manape LaMere has led protest marches against President Trump’s immigration policies, including a recent No Kings gathering.
LaMere also co-founded the Siouxland Guardians. It’s a grassroots organization teaching volunteers rapid response techniques in case of possible ICE activity.
“If we didn't have people trained in that, we'd never know about Renee Goode or Alex Pretti,” LaMere said. “We'd never know about it, because people wouldn't have known to start recording.”
LaMere traveled to Minneapolis to learn more about nonviolent frontline action and brought those strategies back home.
Volunteers learn how to use warning whistles, safely interact with agents, and document their actions. There’s also a hotline to report ICE sightings. So far, about 30 people are in training.
“We just want to be prepared to receive that family that might come crying. They might come with really hard feelings in their heart about how America is treating them, and I just want to reassure them that it's not always — it's not always the case,” LaMere said.
Last year more than 1,500 immigrants were arrested in Iowa. That’s more than the last three years of the Biden Administration combined.
Elena Casillas-Hoffman, communications specialist with the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice, said it’s a challenging time.
“Individuals are finding that they have little or no other resources to fight their cases,” she said. “Potentially, individuals had a status and lost that status, not by anything that they did but because the government pulled that out from underneath them.”
Casillas-Hoffman believes the true number of arrests and deportations is much higher than reported. Much of the data gathered by the Deportation Data Project came through Freedom of Information Act requests and lawsuits.
Support networks respond to new challenges
Julia Albarracin-Green has been a longtime advocate for immigrants.
She came to the U.S. more than 25 years ago from Argentina and became naturalized eight years ago.
In 2017, the political science professor at Western Illinois University in Macomb began raising funds to help DACA students keep their protections. Following that work and research in her university job, she launched the non-profit Western Illinois Dreamers in 2019.
“After meeting so many members of the community here and seeing how much they do with so few resources, I was really moved by that,” Albarracin-Green said.
With offices in five cities, the organization provides services to thousands of people throughout western Illinois, including legal advice, housing support and financial assistance.
But Albarracin-Green said many immigrants and refugees have become too afraid to travel or even leave their homes, especially following the ICE surge in February.
“People are very concerned,” she said. “People are very isolated, I would say.”
In response, Western Illinois Dreamers started anonymous online meetings. In small groups, participants can learn how to focus on their mental and physical health and reach out to others. After three sessions with a clinical psychologist they can keep in touch through WhatsApp.
“They can stay connected and keep supporting each other. It’s not so much about the facilitator supporting the participants, but the participants,” Albarracin-Green said. “It's very moving.”
In Oklahoma City, the Immigration Center at Western Oaks Church of the Nazarene offers low-cost legal services, along with English and citizenship classes.
Executive Director Lydia Marzouk said the nonprofit receives calls every day from people who are stressed.
“They have had loved ones or known family or relatives that have been picked up by ICE,” Marzouk said. “They're afraid to process their cases because they don't know if they will be apprehended, even though they have a legal pathway to come they still get very nervous.”
Marzouk sees helping immigrants as part of her church’s calling.
“And Galatians 5:14 says, that you love your neighbors as you love yourself, and that's what God wants us to do as a center, is to love our neighbors,” Marzouk said.
Back in Sioux City, support for immigrants and refugees has a long history.
The Mary J. Treglia Community House has roots going back more than 105 years. In the past, newcomers arrived from Europe. Today, they come from all over the world.
Executive Director Barb Newhouse said even for citizens and those here legally, there’s still a lot of apprehension.
“Everyone is looking and assuming that someone is doing something wrong, but a majority of people in the Siouxland area have worked through the systems that they need to work through – all in the right away,” she said. “They’re working, they’re paying taxes and they’re doing all the right stuff.”
Newhouse strongly believes people should show empathy toward immigrants who might have escaped difficult or dangerous situations.
“Instead of leading with the assumption that someone is a bad person, lead first with the assumption that someone’s got a good heart – a kind heart – and they just want a better life,” she said.
Iowa Public Radio produced the original version of this story.
This version was produced by Harvest Public Media is a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest and Great Plains. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.