IOWA CITY — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained three Nicaraguan men living in Iowa City as they were headed to work early Wednesday, and two have agreed to voluntarily return to Nicaragua, officials said.
ICE was pursuing Nelson Jose Lumbi Quiroze after his name appeared on a jail roster for driving under the influence, an ICE spokesperson told The Gazette.
Characterizing him as an “illegal alien from Nicaragua, who entered the country illegally in December 2023,” officials said Quiroze was the focus of a targeted enforcement — given he has a final removal order dated Sept. 10, 2026.
During their encounter with Quiroze, officers checked the status of two others in the vehicle: Eliezer Cuadra Osorio and Libni Amador Belladarez — determining both are “illegal aliens from Nicaragua without lawful immigration status in the United States.”
Both Osorio and Belladarez agreed to voluntarily go back to Nicaragua, while Quiroze will remain in ICE custody until he’s deported, according to ICE.
The advocacy organization Escucha Mi Voz Iowa said the men were headed to work when they were detained between 6 and 7 a.m.
“Four unmarked vehicles stopped the men’s car as they left the mobile home park on Navajo Trail for a construction site in Cedar Rapids,” according to Escucha Mi Voz. “None have a criminal record.”
The Gazette could not find any criminal record for those names in the Iowa Courts database.
“Escucha Mi Voz Iowa identifies this morning’s targeted stop as the latest in a series of immigration enforcement actions across the state, with activity escalating in the run-up to next week’s election,” according to the organization — reporting “no known threat to the general public at this time.”
"Hardworking immigrant neighbors are members of our community,” Cedar Rapids factory worker and Escucha Mi Voz board member Rogelio Lagunas said. “Escucha Mi Voz Iowa calls for the men’s immediate release.”
Wednesday’s detentions come less than a week before the midterm elections and a week after an Iowa City mother from the Ivory Coast was deported to Sierra Leone — a country she’s never been to.
Fatou Traore, 43, was on her way to work at the University of Iowa on Sept. 24 when unidentified ICE agents in unmarked cars blocked her in and arrested her — transferring her to a detention facility in Louisiana even though she’s been in the United States for more than 20 years and has an active “withholding of removal” order.
Traore’s deportation has sparked protests and rallies across Eastern Iowa, with Amnesty International recently including her in its petition to halt the repatriation of several immigrants.
“Amnesty reports that the group is confined to a guesthouse, cannot leave without an escort, and has been denied visits from independent lawyers. Its appeal demands protection from forced return, access to asylum procedures and independent legal counsel, and freedom of movement.”