Supervisors on Aug. 7 reported they accompanied immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-ins and described the experience as distressing.

Supervisor Remington said she and another official attended an ICE accompaniment and that the youth justice council virtual talk-back she attended provided perspective from youth impacted by foster care and juvenile detention. Chair Rod described accompanying immigrants in Cedar Rapids and said he spent nearly three hours at the ICE facility and witnessed decisions he described using legal terminology as “arbitrary and capricious.” Rod said he watched as “two families were ripped apart.”

These remarks were given as supervisor reports and were presented as first-hand observations; no board action was taken based on these reports during the meeting.