Maria Gonzalez 1

Maria Gonzalez, co-founder of Immigrant Allies in Marshalltown, discusses the founding of the organization in 2010 after the 2006 raids in Marshalltown. The goal was to provide support and guidance to families affected by the raids and to challenge negative stereotypes about undocumented immigrants. Immigrant Allies has created programs and coalitions with other organizations to address the needs of immigrant families, such as education and access to accurate information about immigration. They also offer a community ID program for individuals who cannot obtain a state ID. Maria emphasizes the importance of dispelling myths about undocumented immigrants, such as the belief that they do not pay taxes. She highlights the economic contributions of immigrants to the growth of Marshalltown and the power of personal connections in changing hearts and minds on immigration issues. Hi, everybody. This is Andy Hines with the Deep Dive. Today, we have a special guest, Maria Gonzalez. She is a co-founder of Immigrant Allies in Marshalltown. It's a great group that I've always admired ever since I lived in the great town of Marshalltown. Maria, I just wanted to ask you, first of all, welcome to the show. And second of all, how did – I know Immigrant Allies got founded in 2010. Can you talk a little bit about kind of what led to the founding of Immigrant Allies? Yeah. So, one of the reasons why we started – or basically, the reason why we had started Immigrant Allies was after the 2006 raids here in Marshalltown. So, we realized that during the raids, there wasn't really a lot of information in regards to what the families could do to help or support those that had been affected by the raid. And that just meant, you know, there was so much up in the air after the raid at school, at jobs, and the community overall. And so – and then, obviously, my family was also affected by it. And the more that we went through the process with immigration, with court hearings, it was very confusing and frustrating. And so, we at first wanted to provide some guidance, what people could do. You know, if somebody that you knew was undocumented, what rights did people have? And then, from there, we went on to sharing our stories. Sometimes, when people hear immigration or undocumented immigrants, all they can imagine is, you know, thanks to a lot of media, these people are criminals, these people are the worst, just all of these things that are coming at you. And so, now you've made up your mind in regards to who we are. And so, we wanted to share our stories, the people that have grown up in Marshalltown, the people that continue to contribute and work in Marshalltown. And so, I took very much pride in being able to share who I was, but also some of the things that I do for the community, and being able to connect with other people that might have been going through the same thing. So, the majority of my life, I was undocumented, and that meant finishing high school, and that meant continuing my education, and getting married, and having children. And so, it wasn't until, you know, my husband was able to apply for me that I was able to grant residency. And even that process alone was a headache. And so, here I am, this person that has access to programs and have the opportunity to connect with other people. So, I could only imagine what people were going through that had no sort of connection, that didn't know where to ask for questions. So, we wanted to be able to provide all of that for people here in Marshalltown, and being able to connect with national as well, not just our own town. But what we figured was that if we could make a difference in Marshalltown, perhaps there would be other groups like ourselves that would be willing to do the same for their own community. Awesome. Maria, what are some of the, for people who don't know much about immigrant allies, what are some of the programs that you've been most proud of, programs that you think they feel like have been most helpful to for helping people trying to navigate the immigration process? So, one of the things that we were able to do was, as immigrant allies, we came about and we started talking to other organizations. And together we started a coalition of organizations in Marshalltown that work with immigrants, that are concerned about raids, that understand, you know, that there's needs in the community that need to be met. If a child is undocumented in the school and the teacher doesn't realize it or, you know, the community doesn't realize it, what are those fears? How does that affect their education? How does that affect their attendance? And so, we were able to build on this coalition that came about and being able to connect those resources for families and also education. It is so important to have accurate information when it comes to immigration, to immigrants, to refugees, to asylum seekers. They don't all fall in the same category. And so, being to have, being able to access actual information, factual information, was a critical role for immigrant allies. And so, that's one of the things that we're really, really proud of. The other one, I think, for myself would be the community ID. And so, the community ID is granted to people that are not able to obtain a state license or a state ID. And this could be for immigrants. This could be for victims of domestic abuse that have to flee their homes. This could be for homeless individuals. It is open to the community. And basically, what it does is it puts a face, an address, or a location that, you know, if people, if like you were stopped or whatever by a police officer, then they have that information at their hand without having to, you know, have to go any further than that. The same for sometimes when you go to schools, you have to provide an ID. Well, what happens if you don't have one? So, then they're able to use that as well. And it's been accepted by quite a few organizations and agencies within Marshall County. And so, that's one of the things that I feel like we have moved forward and we continue to grow those numbers of people. And then CAPS is amazing here in Marshalltown. They've done a fantastic job of being able to share that information out. And they're the ones that host for immigrant allies, these clinics, and their staff is just absolutely amazing as well. And so, we're very lucky to be able to connect all of these agencies together to benefit our community. And Maria, for those who don't know, what is CAPS, the acronym? What does that stand for? I think they just changed their name, actually. CAPS, what is their – like the service they provide the community? Oh, we're going to – I have two there. Oh, I was just saying, for those unfamiliar with CAPS, what is kind of the main service they provide? And like how do people get a hold of them or get a hold of you guys if they wanted help with like acquiring an ID or wanted to help with the ID program? Yeah. So, CAPS has quite a few services. I know that they help like the early education for children. I know that they also look for a lot of like resources for families. They do like the – what is this called? The Stork's Nest as well. And for us as immigrant allies, what we have set up is our Facebook page. And what we ask people is to go to the Marshalltown Immigrant Allies page on Facebook, follow us, and then if there's any questions in regards to immigration or attorneys that we partner with or community events, that's where we post all of our information. And if there's ever any questions, then we're able to respond through a messenger. And if it needs further, you know, contact, then we'll share our contact information, our private numbers, and then get a hold of people that way. Awesome. I know you talked about education being so important. What are some myths you guys really work to dispel that people believe that is not factually accurate? Well, I think one of the biggest ones is that undocumented immigrants do not pay taxes, which is false. You know, there's a part of the procedure to even apply for like a visa residency and so on and so forth that talks about your income and also what you've contributed in the time that you've been here. And so, for example, when my husband was able to apply for me, one of the things they asked was, have you paid your taxes during the time that you've been in the United States? And thanks to my identification number, my ATIN number, I was able to pay my taxes. And the benefit of it is not any to the individual. It's not to the individual. It's to the state. And that's about it. And then when you apply for any sort of status, they'll look into that. So we're paying taxes. We just don't qualify to get any sort of reimbursement or the refund back. If you look at Marshall County's growth throughout these last years, you start seeing that the majority of people that are purchasing homes within the county have been Hispanic or Latino. And you start to see that growth here. And I think that it has a lot to do, with that concept of family. Where my mom decided to stay, I chose to stay and purchase our own home. And we started to build a family here. And we also bought cars here. And we shop here. And we love to shop locally. Love to support some of the local boutiques and stores. And we have more stores popping up in Marshalltown. And so those type of things is adding to the growth and the economic growth of the town. And within these last 10 years, Marshalltown has started to grow and develop. And I also wanted to see for you, was there a – do you think – like for you guys, Marshalltown, is sometimes people who might not believe like certain actual media figures, if they tell the truth about certain immigration issues, might be more likely to believe their local neighbors, because they're closer to their neighbors. They know their neighbors. Have you found at all, like kind of the fact that you guys are local, you're in town with people, does that you think makes it easier at all to change hearts and minds when it comes to talking to people? I think it's easy to – I mean, you watch TV and, you know, you might be hearing something that is negative about immigrants. And if you do not live it every day, it's easy to be like, okay, yeah, like I get it. Like, you know, these people are bad or this group of people are bad. And then when you start hearing and seeing individuals within your own community who, like I said, are contributing to the economy that your child goes to school with, that, you know, you have a couple of kids on your soccer team or that you go to church with, or, you know, your neighbor, and you start realizing, okay, so these are the same people that social media and I hear in the news and I'm hearing all of these negative things about them, but I see them. I'm seeing them and I see what they do for the community. And so it's easy to realize really who people are and some of these lies that continue to spread. And unfortunately, you know, Marshalltown is very, very, very unique in our diversity. But the whole state of Iowa, I think, only has, what, is it like 6% in diversity or something like that? So it's, I mean, we're a very, we're just a little stuck within the state of Iowa when it comes to our diverse culture that we have here in Marshalltown. When you just kind of go on, I think, you know, April 10th, Governor Reynolds signed an immigration bill basically giving, I believe, state, you know, state police officers, the ability to arrest people for undocumented, for legal, for entering the country, for illegally. I believe it also gives state courts the power to deport undocumented workers. And I'm wondering for you, with that bill for like your guys' I believe it goes into effect July 1st, so just recently. I need to check on, I know the DOJ was fighting it because it was seen as, it seems correctly to me, as violating the Constitution that has historically made federal authorities in charge of immigration laws. What effect would that law have on groups like immigrant allies in Marshalltown? Well, even as, you know, rumors about changes to the law were happening, we had a community meeting and one of the remarks, one of the ladies, as we were inviting her to this community meeting, she's like, listen, if then, and I'm afraid to drop off my kids at school, I'm not going to take them. She's like, I'm not going to take them to school. And so that alone like raised a red flag in my mind. And I'm like, you know, your child's education is so important, but so is your family's safety. Even though the schools would be considered like a safe zone and like medical care and churches, people are afraid. They are concerned for their family, especially mixed status family. You know, there's so much that is still unclear within that law or interpretation. I know that Chief Tupper has really tried to build like this positive relationship between the immigrant community and the police department through their outreach, through their programs, and things like this would set, you know, departments that are really trying to build community a step back. And not to mention, you know, they already don't have enough staff or police officers. So I can't imagine them having to enforce something like this. And I know that there were a couple of departments within the state of Iowa that came together and wrote a letter saying, you know, we weren't even considered in this change. Nobody contacted the police department or sat down and talked to us and talked about the capacity of the law and what it would require for us to reinforce it. And so within that part is, you know, concerning what it could lead to. And then potentially, I think the question also would come to what does someone undocumented look like? And what would be the possibility of someone like myself being stopped compared to someone like you, Andy? And how, you know, would it lead to racial profiling? And again, what are people of color that would be stopped compared to anybody else? And so that puts a lot of tension, I feel like, in relationships that are being built between police and the immigrant community. Yeah, I should say too, just to reiterate, if anyone watched the debate between Donald Trump and Biden, that despite what was said, there is no evidence and all polls suggest that immigrants, whether legal or illegal, are no more likely or either less likely or no more likely to commit crime than a national And I think that, I don't know for you, but I know for me I was very disappointed with some of that rhetoric. And it just seemed like with the belted format not allowing for corrections, I worry that some of that rhetoric would not challenge during the time, you know, And it's very unfortunate that during every election, immigrants are used as a pawn. And we are used, you know, in both parties, to be honest. I feel like, you know, the amount of hate, though, that has continued during these last elections, it is fearful. And there's been moments that, you know, as certain precedents have taken place, that I have had to take my children and gone to sleep crying. You know, even though we might have a permanent status now, we know so many people that don't. And I can't imagine, you know, the uncertainty or the fear that these families face every day. And when you continue to hear it over and over again, and it's difficult to mentally, you know, process those types of things. And our kids hear it, too. Our kids are constantly hearing it on the news and see it on social media. You know, my family went to the Iowa State Fair one year, and this was the first time that my family had ever gone. And this kid walked up to my mom and my sister and yelled in her face, yeah, we're going to vote for Trump. Let's vote for Trump. And my sister was like, so just by using Trump, are you trying to intimidate us? Or what exactly are you trying to do? Because if that's the candidate that you choose to vote for, that's on you. So why do you feel like just using his name alone is going to be enough to, you know, make us worry or intimidate us in this situation? And he was like, no, or they're going to deport all of you. And she's like, I was born in Marshalltown, Iowa. Are you serious? But it was the fact that it was two Latinas walking together by their booth that they felt the need to, you know, come up to them. And I don't know, I guess I don't know his intentions, but I could see where just using Trump alone to try to intimidate someone says a lot on the party, on the person, and his name. Yeah. And yeah, I was wondering for you, like, too, because a lot of times it's presented that, you know, the people who come here legally are following the rules. The people who are not are not following the rules. But like, there's a lot of nuances in there that I think get missed. What are some of the things that make it so hard for people to navigate the immigration system to get here in a way that is, you know, legally? I know that like, there's a lot of complaints, but like, they're sometimes in the focus of like, how hard they make it for people to actually enter the country, what a tough process it is, especially people who maybe lack the resources of some other people trying to enter. Yeah. And I mean, immigration process alone is so difficult. Not every single case is the same. We want to lay down a foundation and be like, oh, just get in line and start and you're able to apply. Well, no. Who you are is taken into consideration. The amount of money is taken into consideration. Now they're looking at if you have the proper education. It could be so many things that could move you right or left. There's not one path. And looking into my own family, my mom's process compared to my brother's compared to mine was so different. And it cost us a ton of money. It wasn't because, you know, like my spouse was working and able to help me in the process. I would have never been able to afford on my own or even start that process on my own. I would have never been able to get out of DACA without being married to a U.S. citizen or otherwise being detained or for some reason being able to go and go to an immigration judge. And so all of this, like, I wish there was a simpler way. But looking into some of our immigration policies that are in place and or rules, there hasn't really been any changes since the time that it was set in place. So if our country continues to change, has continued to grow and becomes this melting pot that we like to constantly use and say that we are, then our immigration policies have to also represent that. And that means going in, taking a look at what's working and what's not and being able to make those changes. People don't want to come here undocumented. They don't. If there is an opportunity to do it from wherever they're from, they're going to do it. But what I tell people is also taking into consideration, you know, in your home country, if you're watching your child starve, if you know that there's nothing else, what makes people believe that they want to pick up their children and walk for miles and miles and put them in danger to come to this country? Nobody wants to do that. If there was an easier way, they would do it. You know, like thinking about my mom's own story and looking at my children, I couldn't watch my children starve to death. I couldn't. I would do anything to give them an opportunity. I always tell people the same thing. Like, if that was me, if that was my kid, if that was my kid, that's what I'd do. I think, you know, down to heart-to-heart, if people really thought about that, that's your kid and your family. Of course you're going to do that. I was wondering for you, what would be some of the most effective changes you think that would make the immigration system more humane, more effective, more efficient for people? I think the first would be just that consideration again of, you know, maybe having a, what is this called, like a Patreon to be able to sign to say like, well, if this person can't financially sustain themselves, then we can help you or we can help in that process. I think the other part that kind of bothers me also is the education part. I see that we constantly have a higher, I guess, acceptance rate for people that have the education to be by doctors and lawyers and engineers. There's a lot more jobs that is needed in the country and we continue to see that. People aren't working in the United States. We see a lot more visas for people coming in as temporary workers, but I think policy-wise, again, just revising what the United States is right now. And then the fees are ridiculous. Every year they continue to go up and up. I mean, even just for fingerprints, you're talking about $400, $500 for each process that you're doing. And if they require new fingerprints, then that's what you have to do. Yeah, there's, God, I wish there was, just to revise it alone would, it's a process and I understand that, but it just needs to be done. And we need to stop excluding, you know, I'm going to be honest here in saying the immigrants that have a darker pigment in their skin and really look into those things because we continue to discriminate against immigrants that are, you know, from the South or from Central America. And we take priority in accepting families that are from the North, Canadians and Europeans and Asians. And like, it just, it doesn't make sense to me that based on our color here, there's already discrimination within the immigrant community of who we want here compared to who we decide to exclude. Yeah, yeah. And what you said too, I think, like you said about there's a lot of times it gets phrased. I know, I think Kitty Nivabandi, she's a Secretary General of Canada, and she kind of said, I think she said in one of her speeches, like, you know, don't trust a single story, because framing matters. And it feels like sometimes a lot of the, like things on the border often gets framed as a security crisis or almost like a humanitarian crisis, especially when it comes to, you know, Central America, like some of the gang violence that has happened in some of those countries that is making people flee. In Venezuela, where I think it's safe to say they have a, you know, a political human rights catastrophe, a economic catastrophe, a humanitarian catastrophe, that's all those things coming together causing people to come here. I definitely worry when things get framed solely in terms of security that that really kind of invisiblizes the story of what these people, why these people are coming here, why they are making the coming to America. Yeah, and looking also into what role has the United States played in these countries. You know, we're not, we're not as perfect as we seem, and we do play a lot of political roles within some of these countries. And looking at that as well, you know, we look at Mexico and some of the workers that are coming here to the United States are being, you know, they come in and they work here, but it wasn't too long ago that I went to my hometown, and I saw one of these bigger companies there, and I was like, wait, like, so they came to this little town, bought land, and are producing what the same products that we're trying to in the United States, but they're taking over, you know, crops and land that belong to the Mexican people. And I'm like, while making money for themselves and living in the United States, and I was like, wait, like, how, you know, and we already have such limited resources within that town, not to mention the jobs. So if this big corporation is taking over land and jobs within these small towns, then what are some of those smaller farmer workers going to do for a living? Or how are they going to be able to continue to provide for their families? They're not going to. They're going to have to look for other ways to provide for them. And I'm like, this is a company from the United States that's here in Mexico, in this small town, and it just, like, little things like that, I was like, it's not adding up. The math isn't mathing. Yeah. I think, too, maybe kind of back to that whole single story, because I think on NAFTA, like something like that, there's a lot of talk about what it did to American jobs, and yes, there were American jobs lost, but there's also, I think it's also forgotten of what that did to small farmers in Mexico, you know, having to subsidize American agriculture. I mean, that is an unfair playing field. So I think, yeah, you should kind of forget that aspect of things. And then as you said, in Central America, U.S. policies in the 80s, and Guatemala, El Salvador, led to a lot of this, you know, kind of was at the root of a lot of these problems. Guatemala, going back to the coup in 1954 that overthrew their Democratic elected leader, CIA-sponsored coup against Jacob Arbenz. Yeah, definitely things that I wish more Americans knew about. And just Mexico in general, I mean, the American-Mexico war was pretty much a land grab, and much of America used to be Mexico before that war. So I think that is things that we tend to forget. And you wish we wouldn't. And yeah, I always wonder, like with some of these attacks on education, if there's a push to kind of keep even more of this stuff from really being talked about. And I guess in some ways, like if people – sometimes it seems like the people who worry about people being too sensitive are awfully sensitive when it comes to discussing some African-American past that worked so great. Yeah. The more that we ignore history, I feel like the less we are to, you know, to what is happening now, or to realize that, you know, we made mistakes. Yes. Let's learn from them. Let's grow from them. Let's not continue to push rhetoric or, you know, hate the way that we have for years and years. We as a nation are better than that, and we can grow, and we can be so much more than what we currently are without the hate. Yeah, yeah. Well, America, you know, it's always been, I think, an interesting mixture. Because on the one hand, you had the American Revolution that was very, very revolutionary in a lot of ways, but it also was birthed with slavery and with the genocide of Native Americans. So, like, it's always – there's always been this paradox between, like, what we aspire to be and what we have not lived up to in many times. I think it's kind of been a constant in our country's history. Yeah. I mean, you're right. I think learning from – I don't know how you get better unless you accept what you did wrong and learn from it and don't do it again. So, yeah, completely agree.