116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Protesters: Ernst, Grassley should oppose Trump’s moves
CEDAR RAPIDS - About 50 demonstrators held signs Tuesday outside the federal courthouse and sent up letters to the local offices of GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, asking they oppose President Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees and his executive orders on refugees and immigrants.
The protest was affiliated with Move On's 'Trump Tuesday” events, which encourage Americans to hold protests each Tuesday.
Tommi Karma, of Cedar Rapids, helped organize this protest, centered on denouncing Trump's refugee and immigrant restrictions and asking senators not to approve education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos and attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions. Karma said she wants her senators to represent the views of all Iowans.
Caleb Gates, of Cedar Rapids, said he came to the event to ask his senators to oppose Trump's order on immigration.
The order issued Friday afternoon suspended the admission of all refugees to the United States for 120 days - indefinitely for Syrian refugees - and banned for 90 days the entry of any citizen from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
'I'm hoping Sens. Grassley and Ernst will have the moral courage to stand up and say this is wrong,” Gates said. 'They can work with other people in Congress to write legislation to oppose those. Most of the people here are children or grandchildren or great grandchildren of immigrants. Our country is better for it.”
Though Congress cannot reverse executive orders, it could pass new laws overriding them.
While one of Trump's goals is making the vetting process more stringent for immigrants, Craig Esbeck, of Iowa City, said he believes the process now is effective. Esbeck adopted his son from Uganda and said it took nearly a year for approval, which he thought was long enough.
Gates said he wants the community to understand that refugees enrich the culture.
'Refugees and immigrants start new businesses. They're here to work, not freeload,” he said. 'Refugees are coming here because they're fleeing their country from war, violence, persecution. They want the same things we want - peace, security, they want a better life for their children.”
l Comments: (319) 368-8516; makayla.tendall@thegazette.com
Protesters rally outside the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Dawn Willging of Iowa City speaks during a rally outside U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. After gathering outside the courthouse to show support for refugees and immigrants, a group of six carried letters to the offices of Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Tommi Karma of Cedar Rapids (left) makes an introductory statement during a rally outside U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. After gathering outside the courthouse to show support for refugees and immigrants, a group of six carried letters to the offices of Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Caleb Gates of Cedar Rapids (center) introduces Abbas El Tahir of Cedar Rapids, a Sudanese refugee who Gates helped upon his arrival in Iowa, during a rally outside U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. After gathering outside the courthouse to show support for refugees and immigrants, a group of six carried letters to the offices of Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Mark Bussell of Marion (left) and Caleb Gates of Cedar Rapids lead a group into the federal courthouse to deliver letters after a rally outside on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)
Daily Newsletters