immigration

Fatou Traore, an Ivory Coast native who has legally been living in Iowa City for two decades, faces imminent deportation to Sierra Leone. Supporters rallied Wednesday night calling for her release, and U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks sent a personal letter to the head of Homeland Security asking for a stay on the deportation order.

Many Ukrainians who fled the war with Russia found safety in the U.S., including in Sioux County. But for some, staying in Iowa is far from certain, as a deadline for temporary protected status expires next month.

Afghan soldiers stood beside American troops for 20 years. Now, five years after the evacuation, many still don't know if they'll be allowed to stay. On this episode, we take stock of what's happened since roughly one thousand Afghans resettled in Iowa. We talk with Fatima Saidi, national director of We Are All America and Robyn Barnard of Human Rights First. We also discuss what today's shifting immigration rules mean for Afghans still in limbo. Then, we talk with Cate Dicharry, the new director of the University of Iowa's International Writing Program. It’s been a year and a half since federal funding cuts threatened the program, and we discuss what its future holds.

Indianola is the third city in Iowa to discontinue its use of Flock cameras after controversy over who has access to the automated license plate readers’ data.

Are America’s divides truly political — or is something else at work? In his book 'Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America,' historian and New York Times bestselling author Colin Woodard argues that today’s polarization can’t be explained by Democrat/Republican or urban/rural divides. Instead, he traces these conflicts back to regional worldviews rooted in the nation’s earliest settlement patterns. (This show was originally produced Nov. 25, 2025.)

With most foreign students paying full tuition, campuses will lose out as the numbers of international students decrease. Meanwhile, students worry as new restrictions about how long they can stay in the U.S. are set to go into effect.