Asylum seeker claims he has been jailed illegally by Iowa ICE agents
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is holding dozens of individuals in Iowa jails. (Main photo by Caspar Benson/Getty Images; logo courtesy U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
An asylum seeker from India alleges he was in the United States legally for three years before being picked up and illegally jailed in Iowa by ICE agents.
In a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, Charanpreet Singh, 32, is suing the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Singh alleges he entered the United States without authorization in April 2018, was immediately apprehended and then was released by an immigration judge after posting a $17,000 bond.
For the past eight years, Singh alleges, he has remained in the United States, established family ties, maintained employment, complied with all conditions of his release, and obeyed all laws while seeking asylum.
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On Oct. 26, 2026, Singh alleges, he was traveling in Iowa as part of his employment as a commercial truck driver when he was pulled over by police and instructed to go to a nearby vehicle weigh station. In Iowa and other states, ICE agents are partnering with state law enforcement officials to interrogate, at the weigh stations, any individuals suspected of being in the United States illegally.
Signh’s lawsuit alleges ICE officers at the weigh station questioned him and that he presented the officers with his driver’s license and his work-authorization papers. Despite that, he alleges, ICE officials detained him and then transported him to the Polk County Jail where he now remains.
The lawsuit claims ICE officers provided no explanation for his arrest and provided him with no opportunity to argue that he was free on a bond that was set by an immigration-court judge.
The lawsuit seeks Singh’s immediate release from the Polk County Jail, as well as a court declaration that ICE violated Singh’s rights and unlawfully detained him. A judge has yet to rule in the matter. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which does not comment on pending cases, has yet to file a response to the lawsuit.
Cameroon man jailed for nine months sues ICE
A native of Cameroon is seeking his immediate release from jail where he claims to have been held by ICE for nine months.
In a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, Emoh Yanik Fon, 33, is suing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (State court records indicate Yanik Fon also goes by the name “Yanick Fon Emoh” which, spelling differences aside, would not be unusual in some West African cultures.)
Yanik Fon, who is from the Republic of Cameroon, alleges he sought refuge in the United States after being subjected to abduction and torture by radical militants in his home country. He alleges he entered the United States without authorization at the Arizona border in March 2023.
In December 2024, the lawsuit states, he was convicted of drunken driving and served two days in jail. In February 2026, he showed up for a routine immigration check-in at an eastern Iowa ICE office, was detained and then sent to the Linn County Jail. Federal court records indicate Yanik Fon now resides in the Muscatine County Jail.
In March 2026, the lawsuit claims, Yanik Fon was summarily denied bond without any individualized assessment as to whether he was a flight risk or posed a danger to the community.
In his lawsuit, Yanik Fan argues he kept all of his scheduled appointments with immigration officials over the past three years, establishing a presumption that he was not a flight risk. His lawsuit seeks a declaration that he was denied his due-process rights and has been unlawfully detained.
A judge has yet to rule in the matter. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which does not comment on pending cases, has yet to file a response to the lawsuit.
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