The parking ramp across the street from the federal building in Cedar Rapids provided shade and some relief from the heat, so that’s where people started gathering before noon on Tuesday for the biggest demonstration yet in support of Pascual Pedro Pedro, a 20-year-old West Liberty resident who was suddenly and unexpectedly deported to Guatemala at the beginning of July.
Pascual came to the United States seven years ago with his father. Because they entered the country without the necessary paperwork, Pedro’s father was immediately deported, and the 13-year-old was granted supervised release so he could live with his grandparents, who have been in the U.S. for nearly 30 years. According to the terms of his release, Pascual needed to check in at the ICE field office in Cedar Rapids once a year.
He dutifully checked in every year while attending school in West Liberty. When Pascual graduated from high school last year, he and his grandparents worked with an attorney to get him a work permit. After receiving it, Pascual went to work at his grandfather’s siding company. He has never been accused of a crime or any anti-social behavior, and was known in West Liberty for having been a standout soccer player on his high school’s team.
On July 1, he went to the Cedar Rapids ICE office for his annual check-in and never came home. ICE seized Pascual when he arrived at the office, and deported him in less than a week using an expedited removal process. Pascual was never given a chance to contest the deportation order, or have his case reviewed by a judge. He was also not told what changed or why he’d been selected for deportation.
Since July 1, his grandparents have been trying to get an explanation from ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about why ICE seized and deported Pascual, but haven’t received one yet.
“They say not following the law is a crime, but then when you follow the law, it’s also a crime,” Francisco Pedro, Pascual’s grandfather, told the people gathered in the parking ramp on Tuesday. “My grandson did nothing wrong. He went to school, graduated. The day he presents himself [for his annual check-in], he was detained. I don’t understand why.”
Pedro spoke in Spanish, and Father Guillermo Treviño of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in West Liberty translated his remarks. Father Treviño is a family friend, as well as the family’s parish priest. He is also Pascual’s godfather, and has been very vocal about the 20-year-old’s good character, describing him as “a kind, humble young man who came to this country seeking safety and a better life.”
Father Treviño has assisted Francisco Pedro and his wife, Lucia, in trying to get answers about Pascual’s case and, originally, to secure his release from ICE custody. After Pascual landed in Guatemala on July 7, their goal shifted to returning him home to West Liberty. Escucha Mi Voz Iowa, a nonprofit that advocates for and assists immigrants, has been working with the family and Father Treviño on Pascual’s behalf.
The first public demonstration in support of Pascual took place the day after he was seized by ICE. Dozens gathered outside the Muscatine County Jail, where ICE sent Pascual. Other vigils followed, and on July 10 — three days after Pascual was deported — there was a large protest in front of the building in downtown Davenport, where Sen. Chuck Grassley, Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks have offices. Almost 200 people showed up to support the return of Pascual and protest the Trump administration’s ICE policies.
Francisco Pedro, Father Treviño and Alejandra Escobar, an Escucha Mi Voz organizer, weren’t able to meet with the Congressmembers, nor their senior advisors, but did meet with one staffer from each office within Sen. Grassley’s office space. The staffers listened politely, and explained they had no authority to do anything beyond sending a summary of the meeting to their bosses’ offices in Washington D.C., because that’s where decisions are made.
After the meeting Treviño said he would try to set up one-on-one meetings with Grassley, Ernst and Miller-Meeks at their offices in Washington. Speaking to Little Village on Tuesday, Treviño said Miller-Meeks’ office was willing to set up a meeting, but his attempts to set up meetings with Grassley and Ernst “just didn’t work out.”
Treviño is hopeful that Congress’ month-long recess will provide an opportunity to meet with the lawmakers.
“Now that they’re home in Iowa for the August recess, I think there’s a better chance,” he said.
The first demonstration in front of the Muscatine County Jail on July 2 drew dozens of people. Almost 200 people joined the protest in Davenport on July 10. On Tuesday, well over 200 gathered in Cedar Rapids to call for Pascual’s return.
Just as the size of the crowds have expanded since the beginning of July, the focus in Cedar Rapids had also expanded. In addition to calling for the return of Pascual and an end to arbitrary and inhumane immigration enforcement, the protest also highlighted the case of Muscatine resident Noel Lopez.
The 23-year-old Lopez came to this country when he was 3. He is undocumented but had no arrest record until last month, when Washington County Sheriff’s deputies arrested him on a single count of possession of a controlled substance. He did not have a controlled substance on him when he was arrested. The incident cited in the warrant occurred over a year ago, Lopez’s younger sister Leslie told Little Village.
Lopez was riding in a friend’s car when it was pulled over for having an expired license plate tag. The officer who pulled them over said he smelled marijuana, Leslie Lopez said. The officer searched the car, and found what he was looking for. The driver took responsibility, saying the marijuana was his. Noel Lopez wasn’t detained at the time, and his sister said nothing happened after the traffic stop until last month.
Noel Lopez is currently being held in Washington County Jail, and his family is worried that he may be transferred to ICE custody and deported. They are raising money online for his legal representation to try to secure his release from jail and handle any ICE issues.
Leslie Lopez was visibly nervous when she took the microphone to speak at the protest on Tuesday.
“I really don’t know what to say,” she began, before having to stop because her voice was breaking.
Fighting back tears, Lopez said, “I think my brother is facing charges that are really unfair. It’s not right, it wasn’t his fault. No one’s perfect, but I don’t think anyone deserves to be thrown out of this country over something small like being with the wrong friend at the wrong time.”
Tuesday’s protest incorporated a food drive. In addition to collecting canned goods for the Iowa Hunger Coalition, the food drive also served as a symbolic rejection of the priorities of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) that all of Iowa’s Washington D.C. delegation supported.
“It is very distressing that the federal government is attacking my moral values and the moral values of so many people in the United States. The values of so many who are hardworking and struggling to make a good life for themselves,” Rev. Peggy Garrigues of Solon United Methodist Church told the people gathered in the parking ramp.
“Our Iowa senators and Rep. Hinson voted against our values and our best interests through budgeting decisions that cut funds for food and healthcare in order to increase funds to attack our immigrant neighbors, and bring fear and trembling into their lives.”
In addition to major cuts to SNAP and other food programs, as well as Medicaid and Medicare, OBBA allocates $45 billion for construction of new ICE detention facilities. It also provides $14.4 billion for ICE enforcement and removal actions, along with an additional $8 billion for hiring new agents and the retention of current ones. Overall, OBBA gives ICE more funding than the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Prisons combined. At the same time, the bill caps the number of judges to hear immigration cases at 800, even though there currently exists a record backlog of cases in the immigration court system.
Rev. Garrigues was part of the ecumenical group of a dozen local pastors and deacons who helped lead Tuesday’s protest. When her colleague, Rev. Jonathan Heifner, lead pastor of St. Paul’s United Methodist in Cedar Rapids, took the microphone, he started by acknowledging that it was “no small thing” that so many people had “shown up here in the heat, in the middle of a weekday, to make our voices heard.”
“But quite frankly, they don’t need to just be heard by people who agree with us in a parking garage. They need to be heard in that building,” he said, gesturing towards the federal building. “They need to be heard by the people they represent, who make decisions, who move the strings, who move the dials.”
“We have an opportunity here today. Not to send five people up to talk to them, for them to come down and listen.”
Rev. Heffner concluded his remarks with a prayer.
“May the hand of pharaoh be moved once more, and may people be set free and reconnected, families brought back together that should have never been pulled apart. Hear our cries. Amen.”
After more of the faith leaders spoke, the large crowd of protesters marched to the front door of the federal building, chanting “Bring back Pascual,” and “Free Noel.”
At the door of the federal building, Father Treviño, Rev. Heffner and other leaders of the protest were met by Court Security Officers of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS). Because the building is the location of a U.S. District Court, in addition to other federal offices, USMS is in charge of building security. In Davenport, protesters were able to enter the building and wait in the hallway while the meeting with Grassley, Ernst and Miller-Meeks. The security officers rejected that idea, and instead said the protesters needed to vacate the small, open plaza in front of the federal building and move to the sidewalk, which is city property. An officer said the police had called to clear protesters off of federal property.
The protesters did not move. They remained in front of the building, listening to speakers and even at one point singing “We Shall Not Be Moved,” a song that has been used at protests in the United States since the 1930s.
After about 30 minutes, three Cedar Rapids Police Department officers arrived, but kept their distance from the crowd, as they met with some of the protest leaders. An officer could be heard telling the protest leaders that everyone needed to move to the sidewalk, but that officers understand it can take some time to get that many people to move, so they weren’t going to rush them. After another 10 minutes, the protest moved to the sidewalk.
Eventually, state Rep. Angel Ramirez, state Sen. Art Staed — both Cedar Rapids Democrats — and Rev. Heffner were allowed to go up to Grassley’s, Ernst’s and Hinson’s offices. When Ramirez rejoined the protesters on the sidewalk afterwards, she said she, Staed and Heffner tried to convince staff members “to come down here and listen to their constituents.”
“Do you know what they said?” Ramirez continued. “They said they’re scared to come out here.”
Members of the crowd seemed incredulous that staffers would say they were afraid to speak at a clergy-led protest, with CRPD and USMS officers nearby.
“This is what happens when the people speak and the people in power do not align with the people,” Ramirez said.
In response to questions from the media, Grassley’s office issued a statement on Tuesday.
“Senator Grassley’s staff in Cedar Rapids agreed on short notice to meet with Iowans interested in cases involving Pascual Pedro and Noel Lopez Tuesday afternoon. After a crowd of hundreds gathered outside the office, Grassley’s staff invited the family members to meet personally with staff inside the office to hear their concerns. Only two advocates came to the office to speak with the senator’s staff. As always, Grassley welcomes comments and concerns from all Iowans.”
Ernst’s office issued a generic statement that was almost word-for-word the same as the generic statement Ernst’s office issued after the Davenport protest. This one, like the previous one, did not mention Pascual Pedro Pedro, his family or West Liberty, but the new statement lacked the gratuitous attack on President Biden the previous one had.
“Our nation has laws for a reason, and they play an essential role in keeping Iowans safe. As these cases are fully reviewed, I am thankful President Trump leads the way in upholding the law to protect Americans.”
Rep. Hinson’s office has not yet issued a statement.
On Wednesday afternoon, Pascual Pedro Pedro had the chance to speak for himself. Escucha Mi Voz Iowa arranged the media to listen via Zoom as he spoke by phone from Guatemala to Father Treviño in West Liberty.
“July 1st was a normal day for me,” Pascual said. “I was just going to my check-in with ICE, I wasn’t thinking that something would happen that day.”
Pascual explained that he had never missed a check-in during his seven years in the United States, and the process had always been routine. But when he arrived at the office on July 1, they told him he was being deported.
“I was in shock,” Pascual said. “Because I never thought about that. I didn’t have any crimes or any other reasons for them to detain me or send me back.”
He asked why he was being deported, and if he could speak to a judge.
“But they just kept ignoring me, and they told me there’s nothing to do about it,” he recalled.
That night he was sent to Muscatine County Jail, which has a contract with ICE to hold people detained on charges related to immigration. Pascual said three days later, he was loaded into a van that drove him and others to Des Moines, after a stop in Cedar Rapids. In Des Moines, the detainees were put on a plane that flew them to Omaha first and then onto Louisiana, where Pascual was sent to the notorious ICE detention facility at Pine Prairie. Less than 72 hours later, he was in Guatemala. At no point was he told the reason he was being deported, or allowed to speak to an immigration judge.
Pascual is living with his mother, but is finding it difficult to adjust to life in Guatemala, partly because he’s still trying to understand what happened to him.
“I think about why did I deserve this?” he said, adding, “I’m not the only one in this situation. There’s a lot more people going through this situation.”
Pascual said that even with everything that happened, he’s not angry.
“I just feel sorry about what’s going on. People like me that were actually doing the right thing by actually working for a better life and a better future … I just keep thinking about it. Why us? People who actually worked for a better life, we’re the ones that get affected.”
Pascual said he was grateful for all the support from people in Iowa. He said was praying for them, and wanted to thank them, but “I don’t know how to say it.”
“They’re doing something good for someone they don’t know.”
