On Friday, Attorney General Brenna Bird dropped her lawsuit over a February Facebook post by Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx. Bird had been seeking to strip Winneshiek County of all state funds, unless Marx publicly disowned his Facebook post and declared his support for ICE enforcement actions, using language provided by the AG’s office. Bird […]
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
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Iowans rally in Davenport to demand action from Miller-Meeks, Grassley and Ernst after 20-year-old is deported with no due process
By the time Pascual Pedro Pedro’s grandfather began speaking about how his grandson had been unexpectedly seized by ICE last week and deported to Guatemala without a hearing, there were almost 200 people gathered on the sidewalk in front of 201 W 2nd St in downtown Davenport. More than a dozen were across the street. […]
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‘Bring him back now’: Iowans plan rallies to demand return of young West Liberty resident seized by ICE, deported with no hearing
ICE deported Pascual Pedro Pedro, a 20-year-old resident of West Liberty, on Monday. Pedro came to the United States from Guatemala with his father when he was 13 years old. He lived with his grandparents, who have been in the U.S. for over 30 years, and attended West Liberty High School, where he was a […]
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AG Bird continues case against sheriff over Facebook post on ICE, tells court Winneshiek County must lose its state funding
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is continuing to pursue a lawsuit against Winneshiek County and its sheriff, Dan Marx, for allegedly violating Iowa law by discouraging law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials. In her latest court filings, Bird has criticized Marx, alleging the sheriff has, in essence, asserted that “federal immigration officials should […]
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Judge cites lack of confidence in Homeland Security, issues injunction protecting four UI students in lawsuit
Stating that she has “little confidence” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will comply with its own regulations, a federal judge on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction protecting four University of Iowa students and graduates from deportation. The three international students and one international-student graduate are suing Homeland Security for revoking their status as students […]
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‘Nothing more than thought policing’: Winneshiek sheriff asks court to dismiss AG Bird’s lawsuit over his Facebook post
In a motion filed in Polk County District Court on Wednesday, attorneys for Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx called the effort to cut off all state funds to Winneshiek County by Gov. Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird in response to a Facebook post by Marx “nothing more than thought policing.” Marx asked the […]
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Judge blocks arrest, deportation of UI students; feds want students publicly identified
After being temporarily barred from deporting four international students at the University of Iowa who are suing the Department of Homeland Security for revoking their status as students, the agency is now contesting the students’ wish to remain anonymous. The students’ lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, identifies […]
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UI grad student becomes one of the more than 700 international students whose visas have been revoked by the Trump administration
The State Department has revoked the visa of a graduate student at the University of Iowa, according to an email sent to the university’s international students and scholars on Thursday. The Trump administration’s ongoing and unprecedented mass revocation of student visas has resulted in more than 700 students around the country being stripped of their […]
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AG Bird sues Winneshiek County over sheriff’s Facebook post, asks court to withhold all their state funding
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird filed a petition in Polk County District Court on Thursday, asking a judge to declare Winneshiek County in violation of Chapter 27A of Iowa Code, making it ineligible to receive any state funds. That section of Iowa Code requires every “local entity” in the state to cooperate with federal immigration […]
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AG Bird threatens to cut off state funds for Winneshiek County after Gov. Reynolds complains about a Facebook post by the sheriff
Update: On Thursday afternoon, Attorney General Brenna Bird announced she had filed the threatened lawsuit against in Winneshiek County and Sheriff Marx. In a report released Wednesday afternoon, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office said AG Brenna Bird will ask a district court to cut off all state funds for Winneshiek County over a Feb. 4 Facebook […]
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Reynolds threatens to cut off state funding to Winneshiek County after sheriff says he won’t comply with ‘unconstitutional’ requests from ICE
On Wednesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds threatened Winneshiek County with the possible loss of all state funding after the county’s sheriff publicly restated his “long-time stance on not recognizing detainers” issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In a post on Tuesday on the department’s Facebook page, Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx explained he and his […]
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Locals form spontaneous march protesting Trump and Reynolds policies during ‘A Day Without Immigrants’
Businesses closed across the country on Monday as people participated in a Day Without Immigrants to protest the hostile actions and rhetoric from the Trump administration targeting immigrants and their communities. In Iowa, a group of Latino activists organized a Day Without Latinos as a way to support all immigrants on the day of protest. “In […]
