A few thoughts about the local impact of the abduction, by federal agents, of Jorge Elieser González Ochoa from his place of work in downtown Iowa City:
The time, place and manner of the seizure is the point. As the organization Escucha Mi Voz said, “This reckless action is an attack not only on Jorge and his family, but on our entire community.” This is terrorism, and the only thing that should truly be surprising is that this is the first time this has happened in Iowa City.
Bystanders calling 911 to report an abduction in broad daylight seems reasonable, but what would have happened should the Iowa City Police have arrived before Immigration and Customs Enforcement had left the scene? Almost certainly not a dearresting. More likely local law enforcement would have kept bystanders at bay.
The Little Village headline, “ICE violently seizes an immigrant worker at Bread Garden Market in Iowa City,” is accurate, but is not out of the normal range of violence expected for local law enforcement, including the Iowa City Police or Johnson County Sheriff’s departments.
So what’s next? There will be increased pressure to collaborate with ICE locally, including the State requiring us to have contracts with federal authorities for our officers, jail cells and weapons. Local officials who refuse to question our continuing and increasing investment in police and policing and then stand by “horrified” or offering other platitudes of support are failing as they become a bike fall meme.