In January 2025, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States, marking the beginning of his second, non-consecutive term. Trump initiated several immigration policy changes. Among those is mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. In the fiscal year of 2024 alone, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), deported over 250,000 undocumented immigrants, reports CBS.

Ankeny Schools prepare for ICE policy changes: Ensuring student rights amid new challenges

A recent Trump policy states that ICE can enter and make arrests in schools and churches as a means to deport undocumented immigrants. While churches and schools are generally a protected zone, two federal immigration agencies — ICE and Customs and Border Protection — have been restricted from conducting immigration enforcement in designated sensitive areas for over 10 years. The Ankeny Community School District (ACSD) is prepared for this new policy, ICE, and law enforcement.

“We have some protocols in place that we follow regardless of what’s currently occurring. Whenever a law enforcement officer comes into our building, we ask for identification, and badge [number], to verify who they are,” ACSD Superintendent Dr. Erick Pruitt said.  “They need a warrant and our school administrator will work with their supervisor and with our district’s legal counsel to ensure that we’re protecting the rights of all of our students. We have protocols in place that ensure that everyone is protected.”

Pruitt makes it clear that information about ICE policies regarding ACSD will be available for all parents, whether or not immigration policies will directly affect them. Pruitt also stated that the impact of new policies and fear of ICE could lead to attendance rates changing, although this is not currently the case. Pruitt stated that the ACSD values its partnership with the Ankeny Police Department along with other law enforcement agencies as well. Pruitt explained that if a law enforcement officer enters any building in the ACSD, the district will protect the rights of the student, while also adhering to state and federal laws.

“Our principals and administrators are well aware of how to interact and cooperate with law enforcement partners,” Pruitt said, “[They know] how to reach out to their direct supervisors, and we have the support of our district legal counsel.”

ICE actions in Des Moines spark protests: Community voices concerns over mass deportations

Trump’s plans were to start mass deportations in major cities such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and Los Angeles. However, ICE has also made its way into Iowa. ICE has arrested one person in Des Moines so far, KCCI reports. 

In protest of ICE raids, the PSL of Iowa (Party of Socialism & Liberation) held a rally on Jan. 25 at the Iowa Capitol. At the rally, there were approximately hundreds of people holding signs in protest, and reportedly, many of the protestors have a personal connection to the situation.

“My dad was actually deported when Trump was first president. I do everything to support [the immigrant cause],” Ruby Martinez, a supporter at the rally said. 

Over 2,500 children have been separated from their parents due to immigration laws and deportations, as reported by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). While families are able to be reunited, it also takes communication between family members and law enforcement on both sides of the border.

“I live without my dad now, and I still remember everything that happened and every emotion that it has caused,” Martinez expressed.

While many families have already been separated through deportation, the concern of deportation itself was enough to bring some to the rally. For others, it is not about family, it is about the country and the lasting effects that mass deportations could have.

“Immigrants actually do a lot of underpaid labor in the United States,”  Kanai Johnson, a speaker at the rally said. “It’s not possible to round up and deport all people, but if we were to, it would have serious consequences on our economy.” 

Johnson expressed her concern for all immigrants and said that the socialist party does not believe that anyone is illegal. They believe that people who have harder conditions have come to America because of the freedoms America has and the “American Dream,” and they still do not live equal lives to Americans Johnson said.

“They [Immigrants] are doing the jobs that Americans don’t want to do, and they’re getting paid under what they deserve to be paid for,” Johnson said, “Because of that goods and services are able to be cheap.” 

The Trump administration stated that they will end the “catch and release” method of deportations with the goal of swiftly removing all immigrants who are not eligible for asylum. The “catch and release” method refers to capturing illegal immigrants and  releasing them while they await a trial, similar to bail for deportations.

“We’ve already seen inflation in this country,” Johnson stated, “If we were to get rid of the people who provide so many economic resources for us, the destruction to the working class and people as a whole is unimaginable.”

Some people attending the rally were not there specifically to protest immigration policies, but the Trump administration as a whole.

“[Trump] has already revoked the [Equal Employment Opportunity Act], which didn’t allow discrimination in workplaces, and I think that’s the most basic humane law there is, and if he took that in his first two days, what else could he do in the next four years?” Yuritzy Martinez, a supporter at the rally said.

The protest organized by the PSL in Iowa drew participants who shared personal experiences and expressed their concerns about current immigration policies. Demonstrators chanted slogans like ‘money for farms and education, not for ICE and deportation,’ reflecting their calls for policy changes. The event served as a platform for people to voice their hopes for future reforms.

“What’s happening in America doesn’t have to happen,” Johnson exclaimed. “A better future is possible, we just have to fight for it.”