Catherine Ross is a pseudonym for one of the authors of this post. Bleeding Heartland is keeping the authors’ names confidential, as well as the location in Iowa where these detentions occurred.

June 16, 2025 began like any other morning for two hardworking men in an Iowa community. As dawn broke, the first—a restaurant employee driving to work—was boxed in by two unmarked cars. Masked figures jumped out, ordered him from his vehicle, and whisked him away.

Three friends, trailing behind, watched in horror, as it appeared their fellow worker was being kidnapped. One friend ran to move the abandoned car off the street, unaware that other masked men lurked nearby. He, too, was seized and driven away. Only two witnesses in the second car remained to tell the tale.

Friends and families did not learn these men’s whereabouts for thirteen hours, when their names were found on ICE’s (Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the US Homeland Security) detainee roster at Polk County Jail—a facility paid by ICE for housing ICE detainees. After 48 hours there, they were transferred to Pine Prairie Correctional Facility in rural Louisiana for four more days.

Relatives feared the worst: forced deportation to El Salvador’s CECOT terrorism center. Eight days post-abduction, a family member in El Salvador sent a photo of the two reunited with loved ones in their country of birth. Thankfully, both were released to family members in El Salvador and spared the CECOT prison.

ICE has been carrying out similar detentions resembling abductions around the country since January 20. Daily ICE arrests in Iowa have nearly tripled in the last six months compared to 2024; this rate of growth places Iowa twelfth in the nation. Despite at least 430 ICE arrests in five months in Iowa, only about five incidents have been reported in the press. Fear silences witnesses, yet we must not remain silent.

What happened to these Iowa neighbors violates their constitutional rights. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments prohibit any government deprivation of “life, liberty, or property without due process.” This protection applies to everyone within U.S. jurisdiction, regardless of citizenship. Border crossing without papers is a misdemeanor, not a felony. ICE cannot unilaterally declare it a crime or bypass due process.

ICE’s tactics—masked agents, unmarked cars, no judicial warrants—evoke images of the Gestapo. Only a state or federal judge (not an immigration judge, who is under Homeland Security) may issue a lawful warrant. Administrative orders from ICE lack the force of constitutional law and can be refused.

Allies and immigrant families must prepare by visiting the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice website for Know-Your-Rights cards and related information. This page from the ACLU of Iowa is also useful.

In addition, refugees and immigrants should always carry documents proving their legal status and entry dates.

Stopping these abuses requires action by U.S. citizens and other allies. We must make nonviolent “good trouble”:

• Petition and protest to members of Congress. Tell them that immigrants are vital to Iowa’s growth and vitality, and that ICE’s due-process violations contradict the “Iowa nice” ethos.
• Pressure the Iowa Department of Public Safety to rescind its 287(g) agreement with ICE, signed in March 2025, which deputizes selected state troopers to arrest immigrants on ICE’s behalf without proper warrants.
• Urge the sheriffs of the six counties with jails that house ICE detainees to end those agreements with ICE. Polk, Pottawattamie, Linn, Woodbury, Muscatine, and Hardin Counties have such agreements. Constituents should meet with their local sheriffs and demand that they end or not renew their contracts with ICE.
• Organize community allies to educate neighbors about their rights and establish rapid-response plans for ICE raids.

The Trump administration plans to ramp up detentions under the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” Effective October 1, 2025, that law nearly quadruples funding for detention centers, triples border-wall spending, and adds 10,000 ICE officers.

As state and federal institutions yield to authoritarian impulses, our democracy’s true defense is an organized civil society. When we stand together for the most vulnerable, we safeguard freedoms for all.