Two federal judges in Iowa have sharply criticized government officials for repeatedly violating the law in immigration cases, with one Iowa ICE enforcement officer held in contempt for “astonishing conduct” and willfully violating a court order. The two cases, each handled by a different federal judge, involve Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who have moved […]
Immigration
Posted inCommunity/News
After 23 months in ICE custody, Sudanese man seeks release from Muscatine County Jail
A judge has ordered the federal government to state why it has jailed, for almost two years, an immigration detainee now being held in the Muscatine County Jail. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa by Mutasim Ibrahim Abdoulrahman Nour, a citizen of Sudan, against U.S. Immigration and Customs […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hair Art, the tornado-proof salon that never raised its prices, is closing after more than 28 years in Iowa City
Man Kwi Park plans to treat June 30 like any normal Tuesday. She will open Hair Art, her one-chair salon at the corner of Linn and Court Street, at 9 a.m., and spend the next 12 hours cutting the hair of whomever walks in. (And it will be walk-ins; Park does not take reservations.) At […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Iowa City couple who sued the Trump admin for delaying their naturalization ceremony are now citizens
Two months after they filed a federal lawsuit because their naturalization ceremony scheduled for January had been abruptly canceled for no apparent reason, longtime Iowa City residents Sunday and Regina Goshit were finally sworn in as U.S. citizens this week. “It’s 25 years of waiting; 25 years of being in this country,” Sunday Goshit told […]
Posted inElection Coverage
Feenstra and Lahn spent hundreds of thousands in the final days before the primary
As the June 2 primary drew closer, the two candidates leading the field of five Republicans running for governor spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in less than two weeks, according to the latest campaign finance reports from the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board (IECDB). This latest report covers the 12 days from May […]
Posted inCommunity/News
José Yugar-Cruz granted temporary release from ICE custody as Ebola outbreak impedes third-country deportations to Congo
José Yugar-Cruz, an asylum-seeker from Bolivia the Trump administration has been attempting to deport the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since April, has secured release from ICE custody, Escucha Mi Voz Iowa (EMV) announced on Friday morning. According to the news release from the Iowa City-based nonprofit that assists and advocates for immigrants, Yugar-Cruz was […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Report: Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn flies to Kansas every six days, on average
Republican Zach Lahn has been spending a lot of time in Kansas, where he has a home, over the last seven months as he campaigns for governor as the “Iowa First” candidate, the Des Moines Register reported on Thursday. “I’m in Iowa the majority of the time, a tremendous amount of time,” Lahn told the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Locals, elected officials protest effort to deport a Bolivian asylum-seeker with no criminal record to the Congo
“What has José done except ask for freedom from brutality?” Rev. Marc Schlegel-Preheim of First Mennonite Church of Iowa City asked at a protest in front of the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Thursday. About 100 people were gathered on the steps of the courthouse to support José Yugar-Cruz, a 37-year-old asylum-seeker from […]
Posted inCommunity/News
U.S. Attorney continues effort to deport South American asylum seeker in Iowa to Africa (Updated)
Update: On Monday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher lifted his order prohibiting ICE from removing José Yugar-Cruz from Iowa. Locher wrote that an April 18 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court left him “little choice” in the case, and ICE can now proceed to deport Yugar-Cruz to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country in […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Judge orders hearing for ICE detainee in Polk County Jail after immigration officials fail to comply with two previous orders for a hearing
For the third time, a judge in Iowa has ordered the federal government to provide a bond hearing for a truck driver detained 10 weeks ago by the Iowa State Patrol and immigration officials. U.S. District Judge Stephen H. Locher ruled this week that the government must provide a hearing at which truck driver Suraj […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Truck drivers detained in ‘Operation ICE Wall’ sue the federal government from Iowa jails
Two more individuals detained in Iowa jails by immigration officials are suing the federal government, alleging their rights are being violated. In recent months, Iowa State Patrol troopers and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have worked together in pulling over commercial truck drivers near weigh stations along Interstate 80 as part of what they […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Exactly what asylum law is meant to stop’: ICE again seizes Bolivian man ordered released in January, plans to deport him to Africa
Three months after a federal judge ordered ICE to release José Yugar-Cruz from Muscatine County Jail, ICE has detained the 36-year-old asylum seeker from Bolivia again. ICE has not accused Yugar-Cruz, who has no criminal record, of violating the terms of his release or any other infractions. ICE plans to deport him to the Democratic […]
