The Muscatine County Jail was promised a 75 percent increase in potential revenue for holding federal immigration detainees during the first year of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, newly disclosed records show. In March 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement amended the federal government’s longstanding contract with Muscatine County for the detention of individuals […]
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Posted inCommunity/News
‘They have a right to pastoral care’: Federal agents refuse to let Bishop of Davenport accompany families at ICE office in Cedar Rapids
A large crowd gathered outside the ICE field office in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday morning to show support for the immigrants. One person who had arrived as part of carpool of 10 from Dubuque told Little Village that no one in her group knew any of the immigrants who had to report to the ICE […]
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: Connect the dots and join the resistance against Flock and the surveillance network
By Bryan Clark, Dawn Clark, Justin K Comer, Fenek Coney, Katie Dennis, Joseph Dutcher, Will Gunnerson, Leah Otting, Tara McGovern, Alannah Swenka, Ryan Swenka, Bailey Welchhance, Maggie Welchhance and Dan Wohlers When Ring advertised their new AI-powered Search Party function during the Super Bowl as a solution for finding lost dogs, people were rightfully concerned. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Protesters sing hymns inside Coralville Target as part of nationwide campaign pressuring the company to change its ICE stance
Emily Patton was standing outside the Target at Coral Ridge Mall a little before 2 p.m. on Sunday, holding an American flag and a sign with a simple, direct message: “ICE OUT!” Patton had driven in from Wilton to participate in a protest aimed at the Target Corporation and its relationship with ICE. “Early on, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa City students walk out of class to protest ICE
Students from Iowa City West High School gathered on the Pentacrest Thursday afternoon after walking out of classes to protest the actions of ICE and the Trump administration’s immigration policies. They were joined by students from City High and Southeast Middle School, as well as students from the University of Iowa and other supporters outraged […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hundreds turn out in Cedar Rapids to support immigrants at ICE check-ins; Ashley Hinson ‘disturbed’ by legal observer trainings
More than 400 people gathered outside the ICE field office in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday to observe and support seven immigrant families attending mandatory check-in appointments. The crowd of supporters shared coffee, hot chocolate, donuts, blankets, hand warmers, books, toys for kids of the families, as well as monetary donations. As each immigrant emerged from the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Two CBP agents identified in Alex Pretti shooting
This story was originally published by ProPublica. The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez. The records viewed by ProPublica list Ochoa, 43, and Gutierrez, 35, as the shooters during the deadly encounter […]
Posted inLetters
Thoughts on a terror campaign from an Iowan living in Minneapolis
I am no journalist, no reporter, and also not inclined to repackage the uncomplicated and readily evident facts of the last few weeks from my home here in Minneapolis, pretending there’s some fresh angle or hot take you haven’t been privy to. You can believe your eyes when you see the videos of ICE agents murdering […]
Posted inCommunity/News
ICE legal observer training draws overflow crowd in Iowa City
“We are all here because we want to know what to do when ICE shows up in our communities,” Alejandra Escobar told the hundreds of people gathered for the Community Defense and Legal Observer training session Escucha Mi Voz Iowa (EMV) held in Iowa City on Saturday. Escobar is an organizer with EMV, a nonprofit […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Judge orders release of ICE detainee in Muscatine County Jail who faces capture, torture if deported
A federal judge has ordered the Muscatine County Jail to release an ICE detainee who had been incarcerated for almost a year after a judge ruled in his favor on an asylum request. Court records indicate Jose Yugar-Cruz, 36, entered the United States in July 2024 after fleeing his home country of Bolivia. In court […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Ashley Hinson blames Renee Good for being shot and killed by ICE agent
During a phone conference with Iowa reporters on Wednesday, Rep. Ashley Hinson again repeated her contention that ICE agent Jonathan Ross was justified in shooting and killing Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. The 2nd District Republican congressmember, who is currently running for the U.S. Senate, blamed Good for the shooting. “I’ve seen those videos, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Fear travels fast,’ but didn’t stop hundreds in Iowa City from protesting ICE, remembering Renee Good on Sunday
Despite freezing temperatures on Sunday, hundreds gathered on the University of Iowa Pentacrest and marched to the Ped Mall for a rally in response to the killing Renee Nicole Macklin Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis four days earlier. Good was serving as a legal observer of ICE and Border Patrol agents sent to […]
