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No detentions reported as supporters gather at monthly Cedar Rapids ICE check-ins
Hundreds of community members rally in the cold to support immigrants, while advocacy groups track who emerged from the federal building
Feb. 3, 2026 5:16 pm
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
CEDAR RAPIDS — Jose Yugar-Cruz entered the Department of Homeland Security Office in southwest Cedar Rapids Tuesday morning, not knowing if he would be allowed to leave.
He has been a free man in Iowa for less than a month, after spending more than a year in ICE custody and being detained at multiple jails across the United States. He was worried that his check-in appointment Tuesday with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — which is housed in the DHS building — would change that.
“We’re human beings. We’re not criminals. We’re not delinquents. I didn’t commit any offense, any crime,” Yugar-Cruz told The Gazette in Spanish. “I did everything legally, turning myself in to the officers at the border. I didn’t hide, I didn’t run, I presented myself directly to the officials and they detained me. But I fought, I fought to try to be freed … Let’s keep fighting. We’re not criminals. Let’s prove that we are good people and hope that they change this situation.”
Yugar-Cruz came to the United States from Bolivia in July 2024, after being tortured by officials there when he refused to support the drug trade while operating a small business. He presented himself to border officials as soon as he entered the U.S., in order to apply for asylum, and has been detained in ICE custody ever since, despite being granted a “withholding of removal” by an immigration judge in January 2025.
Last month, a federal judge ordered ICE to release Yugar-Cruz — who was then being held in the Muscatine County Jail — after he filing a habeas corpus against the immigration agency.
“It’s been really painful for me, because I didn’t have any communication with my family,” Yugar-Cruz said, in Spanish. “My mom passed away while I was detained. I couldn’t help her. She had cancer, and I used to help her out financially. She became really depressed and dejected, seeing me detained, and it affected her illness, and she died.”
Yugar-Cruz was one of seven immigrant families who were accompanied to their check-in appointments Tuesday morning by Escucha Mi Voz, an Iowa City nonprofit that works with immigrants. The organization regularly plans rallies to accompany immigrants to their appointments, which are often scheduled on the first Tuesday of the month.
Escucha Mi Voz organizers try to talk with immigrants as they arrive for their check-ins — even if the nonprofit didn’t previously arrange to accompany them. It’s a way of keeping track of the people who don’t come out of their appointments. That practice has been made more difficult by a police-tape barrier placed by DHS last year that keeps protesters away from the line of immigrants waiting for their appointments.
No detentions were recorded by the nonprofit during Tuesday’s check-ins.
Jorge Gonzalez-Ochoa, another immigrant who was released last month from ICE custody after filing a habeas corpus against the agency, also had a check-in Tuesday and was not detained.
Gonzalez-Ochoa, who was publicly arrested by plainclothes ICE agents at Bread Garden Market in Iowa City last year and is facing federal charges that he used a false identity to work at the Bread Garden, was not available for comment after his check-in.
Hundreds of community members came out to rally in the cold Tuesday. Meredith Hamlyn, of Iowa City, said she wanted to show her support to immigrants because she feels like they are being unfairly targeted by the Trump administration.
“I really believe that what everything has become is more of a terror tactic. It’s not about law and order,” Hamlyn said. “It’s hurting people in our community.”
Protesters sang gospel songs together, with lyrics like “let the fires of your justice burn,” and “we shall not be moved.” They cheered every time someone came out of the DHS office. The music was led by members of the The Quire of Eastern Iowa, an LGBTQ choir based in Iowa City, and members of the Washington Mennonite Church.
“We were just hoping that singing would help people forget that it’s cold, and make the time pass a bit faster,” Elena Cressy, the artistic director of the Quire of Eastern Iowa, said. “We all feel like we need to do something, and this is something actionable.”
“We felt convicted to … stand with our neighbors who are having to stand in the cold,” Nick Detweiler Stoddard, the pastor of the Washington Mennonite Church, added. “We don’t want people to be alone. Our faith guides us to stand with people in their hard times.”
Escucha Mi Voz also handed out coats, blankets, and other winter gear to immigrants standing in line outside the DHS office.
Rogelio Lagunas, another immigrant with an appointment Tuesday, who moved to the United States from Mexico 20 years ago, called the support from community members a “blessing.”
“We feel supported because you guys are here,” he told the crowd after leaving his appointment.
Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com
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