Residents urge Linn County to act on DHS/ICE practices; speakers allege detainee mistreatment and county revenue from detentions
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Summary
Three public commenters told the Linn County Board that local DHS/ICE collaborations endanger community members and alleged the county earns $140 per detainee per day; speakers asked the board to use its influence to seek accountability. The board offered no substantive response on the record.
Several members of the public used the meeting’s public comment period to urge the Linn County Board of Supervisors to address local collaborations with DHS and ICE and to seek greater accountability from the sheriff’s office.
Nelmarie Barrios (2054 Franklin Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids) told the board she and others are "concerned for public safety" and alleged the Linn County Jail is "renting out cells to ICE at $140 a day per inmate," that detainees are offered no translation beyond posted signs, and that family communication is inadequate. Barrios urged the board to take a "proactive approach" and to use its influence to communicate with agencies that oversee immigration enforcement. The board thanked Barrios but did not announce a follow‑up action during the meeting.
Lauren Parsons, who said she goes by "Ren" (515 34th St. NE, Cedar Rapids), thanked the board for prior DEI stances and called on supervisors to hold the sheriff's office accountable for collaborations with DHS and ICE, calling such partnerships an "indiscriminate attack" on Black, Brown and Indigenous community members. Parsons reiterated the $140 per‑day figure and described fears that detainees face coerced choices and lack representation.
Marie Krebs, Protect the Sacred Director with Great Plains Action Society, framed the issue as an ethical and historical concern for indigenous populations and urged supervisors to consider the human costs of detention and the county’s financial relationship to detention.
Speakers presented these statements as allegations and requests for county action; no county policy change or formal response was recorded in the meeting minutes during the public comment segment. The figure cited for detainee housing ($140 per day) and other specific operational claims were presented as citizen testimony and were not independently verified during the session.