Iowa Hospital Workers Demand Return Of Deported Co-Worker
Fatou Traore was on her way to work as a custodian at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) on the morning of Thursday, September 24, when ICE agents detained her.
Despite having legal immigration status in the United States and no criminal record, she was deported to Sierra Leone (a place she has no connection to) on October 12. Traore is a beloved member of the Iowa City community and of AFSCME Council 61, Local 12. She is also the mother of four children, the youngest of whom is three years old.
When I first heard the news of her September detention, I was upset that ICE had taken someone from the very hospital where I worked.