How a deportation law could break an Iowa city’s immigrant community – and its trust with police

Storm Lake police question how to enforce a ‘troubling’ state law after 30 years of gaining trust with residents

Chris Stein in Storm Lake, Iowa
Sat 29 Jun 2024 10.00 EDT

Since becoming the police chief of Storm Lake, Iowa, four years ago, Chris Cole has done everything he can think of to convince people who come from around the world to work in his town that he is not their enemy.

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His efforts have created a level of trust between the department and Storm Lake’s immigrant community, one that Cole and his officers have relied on to police a town in which many residents arrive from countries where law enforcement is feared. But tension in the community has risen since the state legislature passed a law earlier this year intended to allow police to charge people suspected of being in the country illegally.

The looming threat of the law put Cole in a bind. He has policed Storm Lake’s streets for three decades, adapting his techniques as waves of immigrants have arrived and settled in the city. He views their trust as essential to keeping the town safe. But should the immigration law ever go into effect, his duties as a police chief obligate him to enforce it.

“This particular law is troubling for us, just because there hasn’t been a lot of guidance on how it will work. And so we have a lot of questions, and not many answers,” Cole said.

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