Immigration nonprofit organizers receive trespass warnings at Cedar Rapids DHS office

CEDAR RAPIDS — Three organizers with Escucha Mi Voz, a nonprofit that hosts regular accompaniment rallies for immigrants attending immigration check-in appointments at the Department of Homeland Security Office in Cedar Rapids, were issued trespass warnings Wednesday morning after two of them crossed a police tape barrier to talk with people waiting in line outside the office, according to a news release from the nonprofit.

A trespass warning is not a criminal citation, but is simply a notification that the individual receiving the warning is not welcome on a property, whether they have already trespassed onto that property or not. A warning can be given by law enforcement or by anyone who owns or leases — or is an agent or employee of the person who owns or leases — a property, according to Iowa law.

“In this instance, CRPD treats the Federal Agency the same as any other citizen,” Cpt. Douglas Doyle, commander of the Cedar Rapids Police Department Patrol Division, said in a statement sent to The Gazette. “In order to issue a trespass warning, CRPD does not need to witness the person on the property — nor does the person have to enter the property. The intent is to inform the person(s) they cannot enter (even if they haven't done so yet) and what the potential consequences are for entering the property.”

The police department declined to release the trespass warning documentation, stating that it is not publicly available. If the individuals who received the trespass warning are accused of trespassing again, they could be issued a citation, which would be public information. In order for a citation to be issued, police would need to see evidence that the person entered the property, according to Doyle.

About 100 people gathered outside the office Wednesday morning to accompany six individuals who had scheduled check-in appointments with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates out of the building. None of the six individuals accompanied were detained Wednesday.

The check-ins are part of multiple types of legal immigration processes, but many immigrants have been detained during their check-ins this year as federal immigration laws have changed. Escucha Mi Voz has been accompanying immigrants to check-ins at the office for several years, but the gatherings have grown into large-scale rallies this year in response to heightened immigration enforcement across the country.

In response, DHS has put up a police tape barrier to keep protesters away from the immigrants checking in, who stand in line outside the office while waiting for their appointments.

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Before this year, Escucha Mi Voz organizers would regularly speak with immigrants standing in line outside the building, in order to offer support to those who were not already connected with the nonprofit. Organizers would also accompany immigrants into the building to help with translation and to be present during the check-in proceedings.

The federal agency this year has blocked organizers from entering the building, and has put up the police tape line to block organizers from standing on DHS office property — making it difficult for organizers to connect with immigrants waiting in line outside the building several feet from the tape.

“Escucha Mi Voz Iowa maintains that protective accompaniment is a peaceful, community-based safety practice that takes place on the public right of way and does not interfere with federal operations,” the nonprofit said in a press release Wednesday.

The federal agency requested and received a permit from the city earlier this year to erect a fence where the police tape line currently stands and block off part of the public right of way. City officials later stated they discovered an error in the property records around the building which would put the fence on the property of the DHS office, so a permit would not be required. DHS has not responded to questions from The Gazette about if and when the fence will be put in place.

During past rallies, DHS officers have stood watch by the tape line to prevent protesters from crossing to speak with immigrants entering the building, but no officers were visible at an accompaniment Tuesday morning — during which Escucha Mi Voz organizers talked with 56 people who had appointments that morning, none of whom were detained.

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Protesters mostly stayed on the public property side of the police tape line on Tuesday, despite the lack of barrier enforcement, but a few crossed briefly to offer blankets and hot coffee to immigrants waiting in line, and to speak with them about their appointments.

During the Wednesday morning rally, Escucha Mi Voz organizer Getsy Hernandez and rapid response volunteer Erica Finken again crossed the line to speak with immigrants waiting for their appointments, according to a press release from the nonprofit.

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A DHS officer exited the building and asked Hernandez and Finken to return to the public side of the line, telling them that they would receive a trespass warning if they did not. They moved back to public property, but Cedar Rapids Police Officers arrived a short time later and, after speaking with the DHS officer, issued formal written trespass warnings against each of them, the release states.

Officers also issued a trespass warning against Escucha Mi Voz Executive Director David Goodner, who the nonprofit says did not cross onto federal property Wednesday.

“Our complaint is the inconsistent application of the law,” Finken said in a complaint she filed with the Cedar Rapids Police Department Wednesday, which Escucha Mi Voz shared with The Gazette.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment about the trespass warnings.

Organizers from Escucha Mi Voz stated they believe the warnings were issued in response to the protest Tuesday, which the nonprofit called a success after all of the immigrants checking in came out of their appointments without being detained.

“We will not be intimidated,” Rev. Emma Peterson of Cedar Valley Unitarian Universalists, one of the organizers with Escucha Mi Voz, told protesters after the warnings were issued. “They are just salty about what happened yesterday. They don’t want us to know workers’ names because it’s a lot harder to disappear people if we know their names.”

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com