Iowa's leadership for refugees at stake in Senate

The SNAP debate in Washington is a reminder of Iowans' long history of offering refuge and care for people in need, people facing oppression or disaster.

The examples are many: Governor Robert D. Ray offered Southeast Asian refugees a home in Iowa in the 1970s is one of the most celebrated in the state's history. But that was not the only humanitarian venture we need to remember today. He did more, and so did others.

The only Iowa-born president, Herbert Hoover, is credited with saving millions of lives in Europe with food relief during and after World War I. The work of "the Great Humanitarian" is memorialized by a sculpture of Isis, the Goddess of Life. Given by the Belgian people, Isis sits a stone's throw from Hoover's birthplace in West Branch. (See photo at right.) There are more: Iowa's role in the Underground Railroad to help people escape slavery, and its hosting of wartime refugees at Scattergood near West Branch, among them. And remember, Iowa is the home of the World Food Prize, which makes food security worldwide a priority.

This is one of those moments in history where actions define our values. We still have people around the world seeking refuge, and we have officially welcomed many of them into our country. And by one vote, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to deny many of them food and health care. All four Iowa members voted for the bill.

Let's go over that again: These are people who are in the U.S. lawfully and who currently are eligible for assistance. The House budget bill would deny them SNAP benefits. Nationally, about 434,000 refugees, people granted asylum, and individuals granted withholding of removal received SNAP in 2023. In Iowa, there were about 4,000. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the provision would strip food assistance from up to 250,000 people over the next decade.

Senate leaders currently plan to keep the House's punishing changes for refugees. Certainly many parts of the bill will harm people in need of immediate supports — all in the name of big tax cuts for the wealthiest.

But the refugee provision should hit home for Iowans and their senators. We have been there for refugees before. It's up to the U.S. Senate to make sure we don't squander this opportunity, and the commitments that we have made — a responsibility handed to us by our parents, grandparents and their parents before them, including those who once were refugees themselves.

Mike Owen is deputy director of Common Good Iowa. Contact: mowen@commongoodiowa.org.

Note: The original post June 11 has been updated to reflect the Senate proposal, which like the House plan would deny nutrition assistance to refugees.