For the second time in less than a year, the Decorah City Council has voted down a resident-led effort to end local cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the northeast Iowa city. The latest decision came during the council’s meeting Monday.
The local advocacy group, Decorah Community for Immigrant Rights (DCIR), has pressed the council to adopt a separation ordinance since ICE conducted raids in Los Angeles in June 2025, setting off a national wave of protest.
Since that time, DCIR has proposed various versions of a separation ordinance, which would limit the Decorah Police Department to the “absolute minimum requirements” when cooperating with ICE agents.
DCIR organizers say the move would protect immigrants from being intercepted by ICE in local jails. Data shows most ICE arrests in Iowa occur through county jails rather than workplaces, courthouses or other locations.
“ICE already knows where immigrants are, and the question is not whether they can find people, it’s whether Decorah will help them do it,” DCIR organizer Joshua Ratel-Khan said during public comment at the meeting.
Passing a separation ordinance would conflict with state law. Under Iowa Code, chapter 27A, the state will pull funding from any local entity that limits cooperation with federal agents.
No cities in Iowa have challenged the law by adopting a separation ordinance. But organizers call the law “unjust” and say Decorah should lead the way in resisting it.
In September 2025, a similar ordinance failed to secure a single council member’s vote in favor. Since that time, DCIR has collected over 500 signatures from city residents supporting the ordinance. And on July 7, the city’s Human Rights Commission endorsed the ordinance, placing it back on council’s agenda.
At Monday's meeting, council members remained unconvinced.
“Last time around, it was a really hard thing for me to vote down,” said council member Cody Whittle. “This time, I don't find it as difficult to do because it just doesn't make strategic sense.”
Whittle said he agreed with the organizers’ politics but was not willing to risk losing an estimated “$5 million worth of state funding wrapped up in city projects that are already underway.”
Whittle said it was more strategic to focus on broader political change, pointing to the upcoming midterm election.
“We could flip the state in like two months, three months, and that's where we should be putting our energy,” he said.
Other council members spoke similarly, saying Decorah had limited power to make change as the Iowa Legislature has curtailed local control.
“I have concerns about the state's increasing willingness to limit local decision making, and I believe that debate is worth having. However, the ordinance is not the proper vehicle for that fight,” said Mayor Andy Carlson. “This council chamber is not the place to seek satisfaction through symbolic acts that place our community at risk.”
Council members also cited recent statewide property tax changes that have strained the city's budget, adding to concerns about the potential loss of state funding.
The council again voted unanimously to reject the ordinance.
