An Iowa City woman was detained on Sept. 24 by unmarked officers on her way to work at a University of Iowa hospital.
Fatou Traore is an Ivory Coast native who’s been in Iowa City for two decades.
Her family said she has no criminal history and was granted a withholding of removal from Ivory Coast — that is, legal protection from being sent back to that country.
She’s now in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) holding facility in Louisiana and faces imminent deportation to Sierra Leone, a country where she has never lived.
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowed the Trump administration to resume third-country deportations.
People calling for Traore’s release gathered at First United Methodist Church in Iowa City on Wednesday night, including her oldest son, Esoumaila Diallo.
“Fatou’s been in America for 20-plus years,” he said. “She’s never committed any crimes, doesn’t have a criminal history at all. She has four kids, which is me, I’m 19, my little brother, who’s 14. One is 8, and one is 3.”
Local advocates from Escucha Mi Voz and Immigrant Welcome Network of Johnson County helped coordinate the rally. It was originally planned to be outside, but First United offered its sanctuary when rain wouldn’t let up.
“Fatou is our neighbor,” the Rev. Heecheon Jeon said. “Now, she faces deportation to Sierra Leone, a country she has never known.”
Signs held by local clergy and Traore’s neighbors called for keeping families together. Iowa City City Council member Oliver Weilein and Johnson County Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz called for constituents to be angry at the federal government.
Iowa City City Council member Mazahir Salih then announced that 1st District Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks had written a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin asking to stay Traore’s deportation.
Miller-Meeks confirmed to IPR News that she sent the letter.
“When we learned of this from media outlets this afternoon, I immediately contacted Secretary Mullin,” Miller-Meeks wrote in a statement. “We sent a letter requesting more information and that her deportation be stayed until we learn more and can ensure the law is followed and all rights are respected.”
