Sioux City, Iowa — A northwest Iowa organization is helping immigrants make legal preparations as the new administration takes office, since new President Donald Trump has promised to order mass deportations. Yareli Flores is the office manager of the Mary T. Treglia House in Sioux City, which has been busy assisting immigrants without legal status.
The American Immigration Council estimates there are more than 52 thousand immigrants without legal status living in Iowa. Flores says the nonprofit has been offering a lot of advice lately on how to stay in the country legally.
Due to privacy and safety concerns, the nonprofit will not disclose how many people without legal status they are helping. Flores says she came illegally to the United States at the age of two and returned to Mexico after high school for 18 months to acquire her green card. She’s now a US citizen.
