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Iowa
Judge clears ICE’s path to deport asylum-seeker from Iowa to Congo
DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – A federal judge has cleared the way for ICE officials to deport a Bolivian asylum-seeker from Iowa to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Noting that José Yugar-Cruz is part of a class of people for whom the Supreme Court has twice issued orders lifting injunctions that prohibited such deportations, U.S. District Judge Stephen H. Locher ruled this week that he had “little choice” but to deny Yugar-Cruz’s motion to have the court block his removal from the United States.
Court records show that Yugar-Cruz, who is from Bolivia, entered the United States on July 8, 2024, at the Arizona border and immediately surrendered himself to law enforcement and was taken into custody.
In October 2024, Yugar-Cruz applied for asylum, citing a threat of torture in his home country. In December 2024, an immigration judge issued a “withholding of removal” order under the Convention Against Torture, based on the torture Yugar-Cruz had previously faced in Bolivia and likely would face again if returned to that country.
Although the federal government did not appeal the immigration judge’s ruling, it opted to keep Yugar-Cruz detained in jail while it searched for another country that would accept him if he were to be deported.
For 17 months, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement kept Yugar-Cruz jailed while the agency tried without success to remove him to Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Mexico and Canada.
In December 2025, Yugar-Cruz took ICE to court, seeking his release and arguing that his indefinite imprisonment was a violation of his rights given his lack of criminal history. The U.S. Department of Justice agreed Yugar-Cruz should be released from the Muscatine County Jail, subject to his continued supervision by ICE.
With his asylum case pending, Yugar-Cruz is detained again
With his asylum application still pending, Yugar-Cruz was released from jail. Days later, the Trump administration finalized a “Third-County Removal Agreement” with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which pledged that deportees sent there from the United States would not be subject to persecution or torture.
On March 9, 2026, ICE officials learned Congo had formally agreed to accept Yugar-Cruz for third-country removal. On April 8, 2026, Yugar-Cruz was taken into custody during what he expected to be routine, address-verification visit to an ICE field office in Cedar Rapids.
On the day his deportation flight was scheduled to leave the United States, Yugar-Cruz won a temporary stay in the proceedings by arguing the federal government could not legally deport him.
As part of that case, attorneys for Yugar-Cruz argued their client was a member of a certified class in the case D.V.D. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In that case, a Massachusetts court had entered a preliminary injunction blocking the government from removing noncitizens to third countries without first providing those individuals an opportunity to be heard on the matter.
In Monday’s ruling on Yugar-Cruz’s deportation, Locher wrote that the Massachusetts decision is “unquestionably favorable to Yugar-Cruz’s position … The problem for him, however, is that shortly thereafter the United States Supreme Court took the unusual step of granting a stay of the injunction.”
So, although the Massachusetts case is still pending, ICE’s process for deporting individuals to third countries remains legally valid, Locher noted.
“This is all but fatal to Yugar-Cruz’s claim,” Locher wrote. “He is a member of a class of people for whom the Supreme Court has twice issued orders lifting injunctions that prohibited third country removals like the one (the federal government is) attempting to carry out here. In other words, when a different district court tried to do what Yugar-Cruz is asking this court to do, the Supreme Court intervened twice to stop it … The court cannot award relief on a one-off basis that the Supreme Court would not allow to be awarded en masse.”
Some human rights organizations have objected to the United States’ deportations to Congo, citing the armed conflicts, yellow fever outbreaks and widespread poverty in the area.
Two weeks ago, 15 South American migrants and asylum seekers deported from the United States to the Democratic Republic of Congo claimed to be facing pressure to return to their countries of origin where they fled persecution or torture.
Some of the 15 told the Reuters news agency that since being deported, they’d been given no viable options other than going back to their home countries, and are currently stranded in Kinshasa, a city of 15 million people, with no money and no passports.
Copyright 2026 IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH. All rights reserved.
A proposed data center in Clinton, Iowa, is dividing residents
Recently, a split City Council in Clinton chose not to place a moratorium on any new data center projects.
A recent item on DesMoinesRegister.com invited Iowans to share their thoughts about data center construction and how their elected leaders are handling to push to build more of the facilities. Below is a selection of the responses we received.
Don’t give public benefits to data centers few people want
Anyone remember the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in 2008? The Chrysler Motor Co. bailout in 1979? How about the savings and loan crisis in the 1990s? These all involved large, for-profit companies owned primarily by shareholders.
Big companies have come to expect preferential tax treatment, subsidies and bailouts. They expect taxpayers to pick up the tab if they fail.
If Big Tech falters with its intention to impose data centers on our society, the same thing will happen.
Data centers and the CO2 “Pipeline to Nowhere” present some similar threats: water resource exploitation, decreased property values, higher utility rates, health and safety risks, and dismal prospects for human employment. Taxpayers will be expected to carry the load despite the fact that hardly anyone wants the data centers or the pipeline.
The top seven Big Tech oligarchs increased their wealth by $1.7 trillion since 2024. They are likely to come crying if things don’t work out. Let’s collectively decide that data centers are a problem and show resistance. Pay attention to what is going on with decision makers. Especially at the local and county level.
Jeff Milks, Oelwein
How long will data centers’ consumption be sustainable?
The mayor of Council Bluffs got it right. Mayor Jill Shudak proposed a moratorium on new data centers to the Council Bluffs City Council. The council voted it down, citing a possible loss of economic growth.
Council Bluffs is home to two of Google’s hyperscale data centers, which are massive computing facilities, typically spanning over 10,000 square feet and housing 5,000 or more servers. These facilities consume massive amounts of water and electricity.
A third hyperscale center is under construction. Given the massive consumption of our natural resources, a pause or moratorium makes sense, we need to figure out what is sustainable in the long run.
Patricia Fuller, Council Bluffs
Companies shouldn’t need our help to build data centers
Why are our elected officials in such a hurry to give our resources to big tech, especially by moving forward with or without the approval of the communities they serve, such as Palo?
The officials who believe these data centers will be such a benefit to their communities should be talking to the people who are already affected by these centers. The U.S. Department of Energy has directed grid operators to order some large data centers to switch to on-site backup generators so there will be enough power for regular citizens. It does not require an extensive search to find information as to why so many people who live where data centers already exist are opposed to them; higher energy costs, massive water consumption, noise, just to name a few.
The data centers should cover their own costs rather than receiving billions of dollars in financial incentives from state and local governments and not be built in communities where the community members oppose them.
Lori Amos, Center Point
Each data center forever changes Iowa’s landscape
“Take your medicine, it will be good for you. And here is a little something extra to make it taste better,” said every developer coming into Iowa who wants to gobble up more precious land for a project with questionable merit.
Iowa soils have a structure that once disturbed may take years to recover from, if they ever return to past productivity.
Hog confinement buildings represent thousands of acres of disturbed soil covered with concrete. Housing and urban sprawl continue to eat up fertile land. Wind turbines cover their development tracks by leveling and seeding disturbed soils at the project’s conclusion, but during development each turbine build causes a shocking amount of soil destruction.
And now we have data centers creating a huge footprint over the soils of our state. As energy needs rise with the growth of data centers comes expansive new power plant builds. Any of these endeavors alone might be causing minimal loss of acres, but this is all happening together. We need to stop and seriously assess what this means for our future as an agricultural state. Who is benefiting by exploiting our land?
Every developer has a well-thought-out strategy to convince us this is all good for us. We don’t need manipulative strategy. We need transparent and honest information and an Iowa-first strategy going forward. This is for us to decide. not them.
Berleen Wobeter, Toledo
Data centers are OK if resources are available
If the water resources are readily available to handle the needs of these centers, I think they are something local governments should consider.
John Torbert, Clive
For data centers, the product doesn’t at all justify the cost
I am worried that data centers are a significant drain on our resources, contribute to increased energy bills for residents, and are primarily used to gather data that is sold online.
Furthermore, if people are against traffic cameras and government surveillance, it follows that they should also be against the data centers that collect and store this information.
John Moore, Newton
Don’t invest to enable government surveillance
They are called data centers. What they really are is mass surveillance centers. They will be leveraged for government and corporations to track individuals and much more. Building them and disrupting wildlife and Iowa’s beautiful landscape is just sinful.
Mary Crist, West Des Moines
No new data centers in Iowa
Data centers are a huge concern for thousands of Iowans. That’s what Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement learned from a statewide survey we did in May.
They gobble up our water, energy and farmland, among other things. And they also gobble up our tax dollars to the tune of billions each year through property tax abatements, sales tax exemptions and other subsidies.
The technology that data centers use may be new, but the underlying story has been around a long time: big corporations profit by extracting and over-using our finite resources, while offloading the costs onto taxpayers and our communities.
People are turning out in large numbers to tell their elected officials: No new data centers in Iowa! So far, nearly 20 Iowa counties have passed data center moratoriums. More are needed.
Analysts say the current AI data center expansion far exceeds what we need for our normal, day-to-day lives, which makes me wonder: Is this mostly about putting a lot more money in the pockets of Big Tech’s wealthy tycoons?
Let’s use some common sense and put a long pause on this too-fast, too-much expansion. Prudence will serve us well.
Hugh Espey, Des Moines
1st round—RHP Cade Townsend
3rd round—RHP Carson Jasa
4th round—RHP Dylan Marionneaux
7th round—LHP Cole Tryba
10th round—RHP Luke Alwood
Catcher Owen Ayers was promoted from Double-A Knoxville to Triple-A Iowa.
Right-hander Jace Beck was also promoted to Iowa from Knoxville.
Right-hander Kevin Valdez was promoted to Knoxville from High-A South Bend
Catcher Miguel Useche also went from South Bend to Knoxville.
Smokies right-hander Yenrri Rojas was transferred to the development list.
Iowa Cubs right-hander Liam Hendricks, right-hander Kyle Wright, left-hander Aaron Bummer and catcher Eric Yang have all been released.
Right-hander Jake Woodford has elected to become a free agent.
If I missed anyone, I apologize. I know there are a lot of announcements on amateur free agents, but none of those have been made official yet.
The Iowa Cubs were edged by the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals), 10-9.
Jaxon Wiggins started this game and ran into a lot of trouble in the third inning, giving up five runs. The final line on Wiggins was five runs on two hits and five walks over 2.2 innings. Wiggins struck out three.
Iowa fought back and took the lead with a four-run fourth and a two-run fifth, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Corbin Martin ended up getting the loss after giving up a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. Martin’s final line was one run on three hits over 1.1 innings. The run was unearned, but it was his own throwing error that caused it to be unearned, so he has no one to blame but himself. Martin walked two, one intentionally, and struck out one.
Iowa had 12 hits and ten walks in this game, but all 12 of the hits were singles.
Center fielder Brett Bateman was 2 for 6 with three RBI and one run scored.
Third baseman Owen Miller was 2 for 5 with two RBI.
Second baseman James Triantos was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
DH Owen Ayers didn’t slow down in Triple-A. Ayers was 3 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base in his I-Cubs debut.
Nice defense from Bateman.
Martin took the loss in the ninth, but he got out of trouble in the eighth on this nifty double play.
The Knoxville Smokies were burnt by the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), 5-1.
Luis Martinez-Gomez was activated off the injured list and pitched the first four innings. Martinez-Gomez allowed one run on two hits, with one of those hits being a solo home run in the fourth. He walked two, hit one batter and struck out one.
Evan Taylor pitched the next two innings and got the loss after allowing one run on two hits. Taylor struck out one and walked no one.
The Smokies managed just three hits tonight. DH Andy Garriola was 1 for 2 with a sac fly. Right fielder Alex Ramírez went 1 for 4 with a double and he scored on the sac fly.
The South Bend Cubs were caged by the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 9-3.
Starter Ethan Flanagan pitched 3.1 innings and surrendered two runs on two hits. The two hits were a triple and a home run though. Flanagan struck out five and walked no one.
Luis Rujano had a rough go of it and took the loss. Rujano got rocked for five runs on three hits and two walks over just one-third of an inning. He struck out one.
First baseman Josiah Hartshorn was 2 for 3 with a walk. He had an RBI single in the third inning and later scored in that frame.
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans got blasted by the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox), 9-1.
Emilio Ramos started and got the loss after he was tagged for three runs on four hits over just two innings. Ramos walked three and struck out one.
Just four hits, all singles, for the Pelicans. Left fielder Ethan Conrad was 1 for 3 with a walk.
Alexis Hernández was also 1 for 3 with a walk. He scored once.
Second baseman Ezequiel Pena hit his first professional home run.
Video: Iowa football QB Jeremy Hecklinski provides summer update
Iowa football’s Jeremy Hecklinski meets with media on July 15, 2026.
The accounting student whose name is attached to the University of Iowa’s endowment for the head football coaching position and who created an athletics excellence fund at the school grew up as a “truck-stop kid.”
Will Moon raced around towering semis while his parents labored to grow what, six decades later, is now the massive, hugely popular Iowa 80 World’s Largest Truck Stop along Interstate 80 at the Walcott exit.
The longtime UI donor and namesake of the Moon Family Head Football Coach died on Thursday, July 16. He was 64.
“I was very saddened to hear about Will’s passing,” Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz said in a news release. “Will and his wife Renee have been very generous in their support of our program and Hawkeye athletics. Hawkeye student-athletes will benefit from their gifts for years to come.”
Moon arrived in Iowa City at the perfect moment for a football fan in the fall of 1979, just as coach Hayden Fry was beginning the revival of the Hawkeye football program, and Moon was captivated.
“From that point on, Iowa football was fun again,” Moon told the University of Iowa Center for Advancement in 2021.
Moon grew up working at the truck stop during the summers after his parents took over in the 1960s. His father, Bill Moon, an entrepreneur, bought the truck stop after he found the land for Standard Oil as construction of Iowa’s portion of I-80 neared completion. A year later, Bill Moon convinced Standard Oil to let him run the truck stop, and he took full ownership in 1964.
As a teenager, Moon became interested in the family business and its operations, and, with an aptitude for math, came to the University of Iowa to study accounting, paving the way for a successful business career and to take over the family business.
While at Iowa, Moon met his wife, Renee Breckenridge Moon. Their first date was at The Airliner in downtown Iowa City, where they watched the Hawkeye football team defeat Penn State. Ever since, they cheered for the Hawkeyes from inside Kinnick Stadium, in opponents’ venues and at bowl games.
Moon and his wife rank among UI Athletics’ most generous donors. Their support created an endowment fund for the operational needs of Hawkeye football, establishing the Will and Renee Moon Excellence Fund for unrestricted athletics initiatives, and providing leadership support for the Kinnick Edge Campaign to revitalize the north end zone. In recognition of this generosity, the UI permanently designated the football leadership position, ensuring that Moon Family Head Football Coach will be the official title held by Ferentz and all future UI head football coaches.
“Will was one of the kindest, most genuine people you could ever meet, and his love for the Hawkeyes was unwavering,” Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz said in a news release. “His generosity and loyalty helped shape Iowa Athletics, but it was the relationships he built and the way he cared for others that will be remembered most. He was a dear friend and truly part of the Hawkeye family.”
Visitation will be Monday, July 20, from 4-8 p.m. at Runge Mortuary in Davenport. Funeral services will be Tuesday, July 21, at 10 a.m. at Calvary Church of Walcott, followed by burial at Walcott Cemetery.
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @rishjessica_
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