Affordability, housing options are deteriorating for Latino immigrants in Johnson County, advocates say

IOWA CITY — In March 2024, a report revealed that more than half of Latino immigrants were chronically homeless in Johnson County.

The Salud, Techo y Trabajo report, conducted by Johnson County Public Health, the University of Iowa College of Nursing and immigrant-led advocacy group Escucha Mi Voz, documented a vivid snapshot of health, housing and work disparities among African and Latino immigrants.

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Here’s why half of Latino immigrants are chronically homeless in Johnson County

Background

With responses from nearly 500 working immigrants in Iowa City and Coralville, the 2024 Johnson County report showed that the majority of families shared housing with two, three or even four other families. The crowded living conditions disproportionately affect Latinos.

It reported that 64 percent of survey respondents were concentrated in just five census tracts. Four of those low-income neighborhoods were contiguous in Iowa City; one was in Coralville.

But unlike people living on the streets, who are counted by the annual Point in Time counts used to allocate funding for homeless resources, the people sharing small spaces with multiple families do not get counted for government resources.

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What has happened since?

Since early 2024, living conditions and affordability have deteriorated further for Latino immigrants in Johnson County, community members and advocates say.

There are the things that have impacted everyone in Johnson County, like rising living expenses.

Safety net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have been in legal limbo this month, remaining frozen for many recipients who awaited implementation after federal court orders. With the federal government reopened as of Thursday, SNAP benefits are expected to be distributed in the coming days.

But new rules now bar some immigrants — namely refugees and those seeking asylum — from receiving food assistance. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in July, made them ineligible for SNAP benefits as of Nov. 1.

Other new factors uniquely impact immigrants. Chief among them are increasingly frequent and violent arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that have drawn national attention.

“Deportation is the biggest thing. If (families) are lucky to have (two) providers and one is taken, they are struggling — let alone if there was only one provider,” said Alejandra Escobar, lead organizer for Escucha Mi Voz, an immigrant advocacy group in Iowa City. “They’re struggling to feed their families, struggling to pay rent, struggling to pay bills.”

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Escobar estimates the number of arrests in the community, the style of which advocates have described as “kidnappings,” to be in the hundreds across Eastern Iowa.

Many immigrant families tend to have jobs that pay lower wages, she said. A substantial number of families rely on one parent to work as a provider while the other stays home with younger children.

Often, they become homeless, live in Iowa City’s Catholic Worker House, or they share small living spaces with multiple families — another situation that meets the technical definition of homelessness.

Many arrests, she said, happen during routine check-ins with immigration agencies as they follow rules and protocols to pursue legal immigration.

The immigrant community has been most shocked by the tactics used in ICE arrests, Escobar said — plainclothes arresting officers who cover their faces and do not identify themselves, pepper spraying, use of lethal weapons and breaking car windows.

“We’ve seen them in the news getting detained, tackled. It’s been incredibly violent,” Escobar said. “I don’t think any of us were ready for it.”

How they’re surviving

Iowa City resident Laura Castro, 22, has been left behind with her 10-month-old son after her fiance, Jorge Gonzalez Ochoa, was arrested by plainclothes officers at his job at Bread Garden Market in Iowa City in September — an arrest that drew national attention.

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The couple moved to Iowa City last year, following Castro’s mother who has lived there for two years. The former business owners left their home in Valledupar, Colombia to escape extortion.

“We wanted to have a stable life and a quiet life, to be in peace. We were a family united, full of love,” Castro said through an interpreter. “Now, we’re not only sad and separated, but we’re also facing scarcity.”

She has applied for a work permit, which she expects to take six months to receive. In the mean time, she has relied on donations and sleeps at the Catholic Worker House in Iowa City.

Without a work permit, it’s impossible to find a job and impossible to afford any kind of housing. This month, she lost access to food that WIC provided for her baby. WIC (Women, Infants and Children) provides vouchers to buy infant formula as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk and other healthy staples for low-income mothers, infants, and children up to age 5.

Castro is unable to live with her mother, who shares a room with her partner. Together, they have to send $80 to $100 a week to Gonzalez Ochoa to buy food and pay for phone calls in jail.

“We saw this happening around the country, but never expected it to happen to us,” Castro said. “The fear (in the community) has gotten worse. Being left behind without the main provider, or only one provider, has gotten worse.”

Escobar, who works closely with the immigrant community, says more and more families are starting to share housing, especially around July when many leases are renewed in Iowa City and Coralville.

Escucha Mi Voz, in partnership with the Catholic Worker House, fields calls from those without food asking for help. Escobar and other volunteers deliver groceries and necessities like diapers, baby formula, coats and gloves.

“When I’ve delivered food, I’ve seen around 90 percent of the time two or three families that live in one trailer or one apartment,” she said.

Long-term success

With the recent approval of a local-option sales tax in five Johnson County cities, Iowa City plans to use a portion of its revenue to benefit affordable housing initiatives.

Even efforts defined as affordable housing, such as housing vouchers, do not benefit many Latino workers, Escobar said. Escucha Mi Voz advocates hope to see the revenue invested in permanent supportive housing for immigrant workers facing housing insecurity, which has a much lower bar of access and programming to ensure long-term success.

As steep challenges persist, the mentality of immigrants and their plans for the future is evolving.

“It has changed the way I see staying in the United States,” Castro said. “We’re afraid if (Gonzalez Ochoa) gets out, this (arrest) is going to happen again.”

Escobar said that America’s primary allure to immigrants is no longer about pursuing an affordable or economically prosperous life, but a safer one with fewer dangers.

“Our fight right now is for them to go to work and be safe so they can provide,” she said.

Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.