ICE arrests 2 men in Des Moines; advocates say juvenile detained as well

Linh Ta | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption ICE arrests 32 in Mt. Pleasant raid ICE arrests 32 in a raid at Midwest Precast Concrete in Mt. Pleasant.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested two men in Des Moines on Friday, and advocates say the federal agency detained a minor at the same time.

Both men were arrested Friday morning in Des Moines off Forest Avenue between 14th and 15th streets, near Evelyn Davis Park.

ICE had been searching for one of the men, while the other man was someone who had previously been deported, said Shawn Neudauer, spokesman for Iowa's ICE enforcement area.

Both will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the country, Neudauer said.

Around 8 a.m. Friday, ICE agents pulled over and stopped the men's vehicle in front of Evelyn Davis Park, said Caroline Garcia, a local immigration advocate who spoke with a relative who was present at the time of the arrests.

In the vehicle were three brothers, their 14-year-old nephew and another man, Garcia said. ICE agents asked for their identification, she said.

Neudauer said ICE does not comment on any juvenile matters; he cited "privacy reasons."

One uncle was released because he was in the process of getting his documentation, while the other man had temporary protected status, Garcia said.

However, the other brothers presented the agents with Mexican consulate identification and the teen did not have an ID. Garcia said they were detained and brought to the Des Moines ICE field office.

The teen was released around 9:45 a.m., and an uncle was allowed to pick him up from the Des Moines office.

She said he may have to go to court in the future.

“The community is trying to see if they have attorneys that can help him because he’s 14 and his parents aren’t here,” Garcia said.

In May, officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 78 people during a six-day sweep in Iowa and neighboring states, officials said. Iowa and Nebraska each saw 25 arrests, while there were 15 arrests in Minnesota, 10 in South Dakota and three in North Dakota.

The arrests were on top of the 32 men arrested May 9 at a pre-stressed concrete plant outside of Mount Pleasant, an eastern Iowa town of 8,500 people.

In fiscal year 2017, ICE conducted 4,175 arrests in Iowa's enforcement area, which includes Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.