immigration

Jie Li, an Iowa State researcher originally from China, shares the harm a state bill targeting H-1B applicants from "foreign adversary" nations could cause. Also, updates after the second major deadline at the Statehouse and a major environmental group signaling cautious support for restarting Iowa's shuttered nuclear power plant.

First generation, immigrant and refugee students at Valley High School in West Des Moines have an opportunity for a scholarship to go to college through a student-led fundraising effort.

Mothers and infants in the U.S. without legal status and some lawfully present immigrants would be barred from food assistance under a bill that passed the Iowa House Tuesday. The bill would also expand Medicaid eligibility for employed people with disabilities.

The Iowa Senate passed several bills Wednesday aimed at strengthening immigration status checks related to voting, getting a driver’s license and hiring school and government employees.

In 2012, the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn began the process of transforming their 30-acre campus into the Jens Jensen Prairie Landscape Park. Jens Jensen returns to the program to talk about the progress made over the last several years, along with MoDA Interim Executive Director Erik Andersen. Brett Seelman also joins to discuss a campus master plan that was recently adopted by MoDA, which envisions an expansion to attract more visitors to the museum and park. Later in the episode, we meet David Morton, the curator of landscape at Brucemore in Cedar Rapids. Morton has worked in the landscaping for this national historic site for over 20 years, and he and Brucemore CEO David Janssen join to discuss the challenges and silver linings brought by the devastating 2020 derecho.

A bill that would make several changes to public assistance programs advanced through an Iowa House subcommittee Wednesday over the objections of people who said it would result in more babies going hungry.

The City of Coralville is considering revisiting its contract with Flock Safety, a company that operates controversial Automated License Plate Readers in the area. It comes after the city received a letter from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office that states part of its policy prohibiting the cameras from being used for immigration enforcement does not comply with state law.

As Iowa’s rural communities age and young people continue to leave, immigrants are fueling population growth. Data shows that one year of Trump administration immigration enforcement policies have affected that growth.

On this Newsbuzz episode, IPR's Josie Fischels shares her reporting on how immigration enforcement is keeping artists from the Midwest. We also get a legislative update from IPR's Katarina Sostaric, with proposals to end vaccine requirements and expand a ban on LGBTQ+ materials in schools. The Gazette's Grace King talks about proposed school closures in the Cedar Rapids school district, Iowa writer Christina Fernandez-Morrow on the impact of Bad Bunny's Grammy win and Studio One host Tressa Glass shares new tunes from Mitski and Noah Kahan.

The killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis have captured the nation's attention, but immigrant rights advocates in Iowa want Iowans to look closer to home. This hour, a conversation about the rights of immigrants and legal observers. Jose Yugar-Cruz joins, an immigrant from Bolivia who was recently released after a year and a half of illegal detention, talks about his experience through an interpreter. Then, attorney Lucas Asbury and community organizer Maria Acosta of Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice join the conversation to talk about the rights individuals have when they're approached, arrested or detained by ICE, as well as the rights of those who choose to act as legal observers.