A lawsuit filed by Noel Lopez De La Cruz, 23, of Mt. Pleasant, challenges what it calls the government’s “new, draconian policy” of reinterpreting the law to eliminate any possibility of bond hearings in immigration-detention cases. (Photo via Getty Images)
Another longtime resident of Iowa is suing the federal government for being held in jail without bond pending his potential deportation.
Noel Lopez De La Cruz, 23, of Mt. Pleasant, a noncitizen who has allegedly resided in the United States for more than 20 years since he was a small child, is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and others in federal court. The lawsuit challenges what it calls the government’s “new, draconian policy” of reinterpreting the law to eliminate any possibility of bond hearings in immigration-detention cases.
According to court records, De La Cruz first came into contact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 9, 2025, at the Muscatine County Jail, where he was held on a warrant charging him with possession of marijuana.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
ICE placed a detainer on De La Cruz, and took custody of him on Aug. 16, 2025, when he was released from jail due to the court’s dismissal of the drug-possession charge. De La Cruz is now in the Linn County Jail where he is being held on charges of having entered the United States without authorization and being an immigrant without a valid unexpired immigrant visa.
Court records indicate the Department of Homeland Security has denied him release while his case is pending — an action that is consistent with a new DHS policy that took effect in July 2025. Under that policy, all ICE employees are to consider anyone who is alleged to have entered the United States illegally to be subject to mandatory detention.
De La Cruz requested a bond redetermination hearing before an immigration judge in Omaha Immigration Court, but the judge denied the request finding he had no jurisdiction over the matter given DHS’ new interpretation of federal law.
The lawsuit alleges that as a result of being denied a hearing on the issue, deportation proceedings against De La Cruz cannot be paused and his deportation “will be fast tracked,” further decreasing his chances of arguing against his removal.
In seeking relief from the federal courts, De La Cruz argues that without court intervention, he “faces the prospect of months, or even years, in immigration custody, separated from his family and community.”
A growing number of cases similar to De La Cruz’s lawsuit are being filed around the country, partly because of a Sept. 5, 2025, decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals. In that decision, the board adopted Homeland Security’s new interpretation of the law, finding that immigration judges lack the authority to even consider bond requests in such cases.
‘A gold medal in mental gymnastics’
Attorneys for De La Cruz and others who are facing deportation argue that while federal law does mandate detention for those apprehended on their “arrival” in the United States, a separate section of the law has, for decades, specially allowed for bond hearings in cases where individuals are detained days, months or years after they entered the country.
In De La Cruz’s case, his attorneys argue that to justify detention without bond, the Board of Immigration Appeals has had to stretch the meaning of “arrival” in a manner that is “worthy of a gold medal in mental gymnastics.”
Quoting from prior court rulings, they say this “wild interpretation” of the law “upends decades of administrative interpretation and practice” and would require the detention of literally millions of individuals.
While some immigration judges around the country have continued to grant bond hearings to individuals, Homeland Security has fought back, appealing such decisions. Those appeals typically result in an automatic stay in the proceedings, preventing noncitizens from being released on bond even in cases where a judge has rejected the Trump administration’s new interpretation of the law.
The defendants in the De La Cruz case, who have yet to file a response to the lawsuit, include the Department of Homeland Security and its director, Kristi Noem; U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi; the Executive Office for Immigration Review and its acting director, Srice Owen; the Omaha Immigration Court; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its acting director, Todd M. Lyons; and Peter Berg, a field office director for ICE.
Also named as defendants are Dave Beuter, the chief jail administrator of Linn County Jail, and Brian Gardner, the sheriff of Linn County.
Earlier this week, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported on another Iowa man, 29-year-old Yeison Antonio Lopez Lopez, who claims he is being held in jail, while facing deportation, without the opportunity to argue for release on bond.
Lopez Lopez is suing the federal government, seeking court intervention to protect “the due process rights owed to thousands of immigration respondents across the country.” That case is still pending.
