Tom Foley is an intern reporter for Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this article first appeared.

West Liberty resident Pascual Pedro Pedro, whose deportation has sparked protests across eastern Iowa, told his story by phone from Guatemala during a July 30 news conference.

The call took place one day after around 200 Iowans, including ten pastors, marched on the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids on July 29 to advocate for the return of Pedro to West Liberty and to free detained Muscatine resident Noel Lopez.

Pedro, 20, was detained on July 1 at an annual U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in and deported less than a week later. 

“I was doing the right thing, going to my check-ins, and I would love to go back if everyone over there thinks I deserve a chance. I can still go to my check-ins if they give me a chance,” Pedro said by phone. “I just want to be there. I’m still a young man. I haven’t done anything bad, and I just pray to God I can go back there.”

“It was just a normal day for me. I was just, like, going to my check-in with ICE. I wasn’t thinking that something would happen that day,” Pedro said during the call.

Pedro said he had never missed or been late for a check-in in the seven years since he began living in West Liberty. When he was informed he was being sent to Guatemala, Pedro said he was “in shock.”

“I was trying to ask them if I was going to be able to fight for my case or like, see a judge or something like that,” Pedro said. “But they…keep ignoring me and ignoring me and telling me there’s nothing to do about it.”

He was detained in the Muscatine County Jail for three days before he was driven on July 4 to Cedar Rapids. There, he was moved into a van at 2 a.m. to be transported to Des Moines, then to Nebraska, where he boarded a plane bound for Louisiana “that same day.” Pedro said he was held in Louisiana until July 6 at 2 a.m., when he was sent to Guatemala.

At 9:22 a.m., he landed in Guatemala, where he was finally able to find a phone to contact his family because “they didn’t know where I was or what was going on with me.”

“It’s been hard for me cause I think about it like, ‘what did I do bad over there? Why do I deserve this thing that’s happened to me?’” Pedro said. “I’m not the only one in this situation. There’s a lot more people going through this situation. And I’m actually not mad but I just feel sorry about what’s going on because people like me that were actually doing the right thing, like actually working for a better life, a better future, we’re the ones who get affected.”

Hundreds of protesters push for action from Iowa representatives

Pedro responded to the protesters who gathered on his behalf Tuesday saying, “I actually appreciate it so much, for everyone out there fighting for what’s right.”

The protest was one of several organized by immigrant advocacy group Escucha Mi Voz and the Iowa City Catholic Worker. The goal was to meet with representatives from the staff for Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, as well as Representatives Ashley Hinson (IA-02) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01) to advocate for the return of Pedro and Lopez. 

Lopez is currently being held in the county jail for one count of possession of a controlled substance and faces the threat of deportation, according to his fiancée, Brianna Thornton.

Father Guillermo Treviño, lead pastor of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and Pedro’s confirmation sponsor, said organizers planned a meeting with Grassley’s staff in advance.

“We’ll head over there right now, and ask, and plead,” Treviño said. “I want a face-to-face meeting with the senators, Grassley, Ernst; representatives Ashley Hinson and Miller-Meeks.”

Protesters hold sign up to the windows of the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids. (photo by Tom Foley/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

There, faith leaders planned to advocate for the return of the two Iowans and deliver canned food to the congressional staff as a symbolic protest of their cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to fund the mass deportation appropriations of the recent “big, beautiful bill.”

After hearing speeches from family members and Iowa faith leaders, hundreds of protesters filed out of the nearby parking garage where they were congregating and marched down the street to the courthouse, chanting “free Noel now” and “bring back Pascual.”

The procession of protesters was stopped at the door by courthouse security, who informed them that only five people could enter the building. 

Court security officers declined to comment.

Pastors speak with the court security officers at the doors to the courthouse. (Photo by Tom Foley/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Democratic State Representative Angel Ramirez, whose district covers part of Cedar Rapids, said she entered the building to bring a representative down from Grassley’s staff, but was unsuccessful.

“I went up there with Pastor Johnathan Heffner and asked if they would be willing to come down at least to the lobby, at least to see their constituents and how many people had gathered here. She refused and stated that she felt unsafe,” Ramirez said.

A spokesperson from Grassley’s office stated that: “Senator Grassley’s staff in Cedar Rapids agreed on short notice to meet with Iowans interested in cases involving Pascual Pedro and Noel Lopez Tuesday afternoon. After a crowd of hundreds gathered outside the office, Grassley’s staff invited the family members to meet personally with staff inside the office to hear their concerns. Only two advocates came to the office to speak with the senator’s staff. As always, Grassley welcomes comments and concerns from all Iowans.”

Family members advocate to “free Noel now” and “bring back Pascual”

Among the ranks of protesters were Lopez’s fiancée, Thornton, and his sister Leslie Lopez.

“I was trying to keep him safe. We were trying to do things the right way. We were trying to get a lawyer for the criminal offense because we knew it would happen if ICE were to detain him,” Thornton said. “They ended up coming to my house that night and taking him to the county jail, and then they transferred him over to Washington.”

Noel Lopez is currently being held for one count of possession of a controlled substance. On June 2, 2024, during a traffic stop for expired vehicle registration tags, police found marijuana in a car in which Noel Lopez was a passenger. Last month, he was arrested in Washington County. 

“He just happened to be in the car with his friend at the wrong time. And then I guess a year later, he got arrested because he had a warrant for his arrest for the drugs, but his friend took all the blame and said that everything was his. Now he’s facing the same consequences as his friend,” Leslie Lopez said. 

Thornton said Noel Lopez is not a citizen but has applied and been denied from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival twice because he never had “enough evidence that he was here” for the 20 years he’s been in the United States.

“His whole life is America; he knows everything, and I feel like he’s rooted here. And for that to be taken away, I don’t think it’s fair,” she said.

Pascual Pedro’s grandfather, Francisco Pedro, also addressed the crowd in Spanish, emphasizing his confusion about the situation. During the march, he carried a sign with pictures, including Pascual Pedro’s high school diploma and pictures of his soccer career.

“They say not following the law is a crime, but then when you follow the law, it’s also a crime. And my grandson did nothing wrong,” Francisco Pedro said through a translator. “The day he presented himself, he was detained. I don’t understand the why.”

Francisco Pedro speaks to a crowd of protesters under the shade of a parking garage across from the Cedar Rapids U.S. Courthouse. (Photo by Tom Foley/Iowa Capital Dispatch)