Two Iowa lawsuits claim that federal immigration officials have concocted a “scheme” whereby detainees with no criminal record can be jailed indefinitely despite judges approving their release upon payment of a bond. (Photo by Getty Images)
A western Iowa county is being sued over the federal government’s refusal to release jailed immigration detainees, even in cases where judges have ordered their release on bond.
The lawsuits claim that federal immigration officials have concocted a “scheme” whereby detainees with no criminal record can be jailed indefinitely despite judges approving their release upon payment of a bond.
The cases stem from a policy that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security adopted in July 2025, holding that all employees of DHS’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), were to consider anyone who is alleged to have entered the United States illegally to be subject to mandatory detention.
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When detainees request a bond redetermination hearing before an immigration judge, judges often deny the request on the basis that under DHS’ newest interpretation of federal law, they have no jurisdiction over the matter.
In the past three weeks, a growing number of detainees have sought relief from such rulings by filing lawsuits that go before federal judges in U.S. District Court. That’s partly because of a Sept. 5, 2025, decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals. In that decision, the board adopted DHS’ latest interpretation of the law, finding that immigration judges lack the authority to even consider bond requests.
Now, another twist has been added to the legal conflict: Even in those cases where an immigration judge has set a bond for immigration detainees seeking release while their cases are pending, Homeland Security and ICE are refusing to accept payment of that bond and are keeping the detainees behind bars in county jails.
The result is that counties operating those jails are now being sued in federal court. In Iowa’s Woodbury County, for example, two such lawsuits were filed in the past week.
One of those cases involves Armando Garcia Picazo, who was arrested by ICE on Aug. 8, 2025, in Sioux City. According to court records, that arrest stemmed from an ICE and Drug Enforcement Administration surveillance operation that centered on another individual.
According to Garcia’s attorneys, the government has admitted that because Garcia “looked like” the individual being sought, he was detained and was later charged by ICE for having no legitimate immigration status in the United States.
Garcia has lived in Iowa for about nine years and has no criminal history, according to his lawyers.
Court records indicate that after he was arrested, Garcia participated in a bond redetermination hearing in front of an immigration judge. Citing Garcia’s lack of criminal history and his ties to the community, the judge on Sept. 12, 2025, ordered Garcia’s release upon payment of a $6,000 bond. Garcia’s family then attempted, without success, to post the bond.
“ICE will not allow them to post it,” Garcia’s lawyers argue in their newly filed lawsuit. “ICE refuses to release Mr. Garcia from custody, relying on a federal regulation giving DHS unilateral authority to block an immigration judge’s custody order.”
Garcia’s lawyers are now asking a U.S. District Court judge to intervene, rule that Garcia’s detention is unconstitutional, and order his release from jail upon payment of the bond.
As part of that lawsuit, Woodbury County Sheriff Chad Sheehan is being sued due to his having physical and administrative custody over Garcia. The Iowa Capital Dispatch was unable to reach Sheehan at his office on Thursday.
“For nine years, Garcia has worked hard, paid taxes, and contributed to the Iowa community,” Garcia’s lawyers have told the court in seeking intervention. “Mr. Garcia has significant ties to the community … He has many friends and is a skilled mechanic who often helps his community while expecting nothing in return. He has no criminal record and has never had any legal issues whatsoever until the current civil proceedings. Mr. Garcia was arrested by ICE on August 8, 2025, while walking out of his home because he apparently resembled a different man the government actually intended to arrest.”
The other Woodbury County case involves Francisco Torres Aleman, 34, of Omaha, who was detained in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on June 28, 2025.
According to his lawyers, Aleman was born in Guatemala and came to the United States at least 12 years ago. They say he has no criminal history and is the father of two daughters who are U.S. citizens.
Court papers filed by Aleman’s attorneys give conflicting accounts as to how Aleman was arrested. In their petition seeking intervention by U.S. District Court, they state that Aleman was “arrested following a traffic stop in Sioux Falls,” but in that same document they say he was “detained while washing his car on June 28, 2025.”
Court records indicate that on Aug. 19, 2025, an immigration judge authorized the posting of a $20,000 bond that would allow for Aleman’s release while his immigration case was pending. Aleman’s family then attempted to post the bond through the required computerized processing system called “ICE CeBonds,” but each attempt was allegedly denied.
Aleman remains behind bars in the Woodbury County Jail, his attorneys allege. In seeking court invention, they argue that his continued detention not only contradicts the judge’s order on bond, it also inhibits his ability to argue against his removal from the country in that he can’t communicate with potential witnesses or earn wages to afford legal representation in the case.
“This scheme,” Aleman’s lawyers argue in court, is “plainly designed by the executive branch to give DHS the power to circumvent both immigration judge and Board of Immigration Appeals orders … The regulations are written in such a way that it does not matter what either the immigration judge and Board of Immigration Appeals orders; if the government disagrees, the government can, through its own actions and per its own regulations, keep the noncitizen detained indefinitely.”
In addition to Sheriff Sheehan, the two Woodbury County cases name as defendants Peter Berg, the director of the ICE field office in St. Paul, Minnesota; Todd M. Lyons, the acting director of ICE; Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security; Pamela Jo Bondi, the attorney general of the United States and head of the U.S. Department of Justice; and President Donald J. Trump .
The defendants have yet to file a response to the lawsuits.