ICE RAID IN MOUNT PLEASANT: Two years later and families still in need

Saturday marks two years since 32 people were arrested in a raid in Mount Pleasant. Some families are still separated, while others are trying to heal from the trauma.

TV6's Rebecca David visited Mount Pleasant prior to the coronavirus to see how the community is getting back on their feet.

On what starts out to be a long and rural drive through Iowa. After a while, the neighborhood of Mount Pleasant slowly starts to emerge. Mary Bea Snyder comes to her final destination bearing gifts.

Mary, a sister with the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in Davenport comes up to First Presbyterian Church in Mount Pleasant often.

"I just find it to be very meaningful and I'm hoping that it's helpful," she said.

Inside -- an advocacy group started by the church called Iowa Welcomes Immigrant Neighbors or " IOWA wins" gets the food pantry ready.

One by one, they fill bottles with cooking oil. The room is suddenly transformed into a little grocery place for families to come and pick up items. Reverend Trey Hegar is one of the members that started IOWA wins. Something that started out small among the church members has grown.

"For us as a church, it's a way to show God's unconditional love for people in need," Hegar said.

May 9th, marks two years since the ICE raid in Mount Pleasant and things haven't been easy for the families, but the food pantry being run by IOWA wins and the church is helping make a difference in the families lives.

"Really it's just a way of I guess covering up some of the wounds that happened from an unjust immigration system," Hegar said.

In 2018, ICE raided the Midwest Precast Concrete Factory. They detained 32 men, 24 were released as they were in the process of obtaining their citizenship, seven were deported.

"A lot of them were the primary breadwinners for their families. So we have been helping with rent, utilities, legal fees all through donations," Hegar said.

Legal fees that the church raised with the help of the Eastern Iowa Community Bond Project. Getting the men got of detention cost $10,000 each. Presbyterian Churches of East Iowa donated $25,000 to the bond project.

"We pay bond for people who are being held in immigration detention," Julia Zalenski, Legal Director for Eastern Iowa Bond Project said.

Julia Zalenski and Elizabeth Bernal started the organization in 2017. Since then, they have assisted 75 families including the men that were detained in Mount Pleasant.

"We are not only helping individual, we are helping like the whole family sometimes we are talking about five people," Elizabeth Bernal, a member of the Eastern Iowa Community Bond Project.

The Eastern Iowa Community Bond Project is a non-profit organization. They rely on donations to pay the bonds. When the 32 men were detained members of the bond project, IOWA wins, and First Presbyterian Church searched four states to locate all of the men. Eventually, they were able to help 13 men.

Two years later and many families still rely on financial assistance and the food pantry.

"It still affects the families two years later, it affects us, some of the helpers, two years later. There's still a lot of work to do, these families are still in need, they are still very financially affected," Hegar said.

Two years later and community members from all over are still finding ways to give back.

It took about one year for some men to get their work permits and social security cards. Some are still waiting on court dates.