By Nicole Yeager, Iowa City
On Feb. 25, 2026, community organizers and detainees learned that a class action lawsuit may preserve due process for migrant detainees in Iowa.
The final judgment of Maldonado Bautista vs. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was delivered on Dec. 18, 2025. The case, from the U.S. District Court of Central California, clarifies a path for attorneys nationwide to restore due process and prevent indefinite detainment amidst crowded jail cells. Specifically, the ruling restores the right to bond hearings for migrant detainees, who previously faced indefinite detainment for months or years, fear of removal, and at times pressure to sign removal papers without the possibility of bond. Prior to July 2025, release on bond for migrant detainees was the standard practice for decades.
This case stems from the surge of arrests with indefinite detainment that violate any persons right to due process and to prevent conditions such as those reportedly in the Linn County jail.
Community members have sought to understand the conditions in the Linn County jail for migrants. Per the Linn County inmate search, as many as 86 migrants from across Iowa have been held in the Linn County jail this year, though the database does not share removal status. Concerned citizens such as Nellmarie Barrios of Linn County recently gave public comment to describe the treatment of migrants and demand action from Linn County.
On Feb. 25, Barrios spoke at the Linn County Supervisors meeting to describe treatment of migrants at ICE check-ins and at the Linn County Jail, as well as her desire for action to preserve the dignity of migrants. During public comment, she expressed frustration regarding Linn County’s “full cooperation with ICE,” noting the contract the jail has with DHS. She explained how the county lies to and intimidates [migrant] appointment attendees, such as how even during sub-zero temperatures, ICE agents will not permit parents with small children to access the heated waiting room, instead forcing them to wait in the cold.
Barrios described how she and other community members have stepped up to speak with migrant detainees and connect them to their loved ones, whom she noted often do not know how to navigate the system to communicate. During public comment, she read messages that she and others have received from migrants in the Linn County jail, which describe harsh, crowded conditions, coercion, and lack of translation services. Some are included below (Emphasis mine.)
Well, I’m feeling very bad, they take us out at 6 after sleeping on the floor. We are 10 people, it is maximum security : ( and I don’t know why it’s not until 11 o’clock we eat, and they take us out at 1. It’s very cold, they’ll make us sick. … They have us outside all day. We can’t bring out sheets, just a towel to bathe yourself. Here they sell underwear and sweaters, if you take out a sheet and they look they punish you. It’s ugly nobody, wants to be here.
Hello good afternoon, I would like your help. I signed my deportation but I didn’t know because everything was in English, they never gave me a translator.
In the immigration office before they brought me to jail and I have family members, if you like I’ll send you the number and name … On January 31 I signed … But I don’t know when my deportation will be.
…It’s just that I feel like they have a vacuum of information, I asked them about my status and nobody could tell my anything concrete and that’s what I want to know. … I just want to return to work :/
Ma’am, they don’t speak Spanish nor do they have anything to translate, the usual is that I try to talk to them and when I can’t one of the boys here helps me. He speaks both languages.
Community organizers shared with me the conditions for detainees, including that at least one migrant received a removal order after his judge missed the hearing, and that people are forced to sleep on the floor with as many as ten people per cell, with lights out at 6 p.m.
Reports indicate that Linn County receives $140/day for each migrant detainee. If ICE has held around 80 migrants for all of February, Linn County could have received as much as $280,000 from DHS just this month. The class action case could order releases on bond for many of the detainees currently housed in the Linn County jail. It is unclear if due process will prevent removal for each detainee, but for now, some families may be unified as cases proceed.
If you are know of someone who has been detained, you can read the recommendations from ACLU here to see if they may apply to the case.
A community volunteer also informed me that migrants detained in Linn County Jail received letters on Wednesday that included this number which, when called, shares information about the class action suit and who is eligible: 415-343-0770.
Most migrant detainees in Linn County do not currently have a community member corresponding with them. Those volunteers who are in touch pay around 25 cents for each message; a six-minute video call costs $6. These costs come out of the volunteers’ own pockets.
Here’s information on chat messaging and video calling.
