Resident urges Marion to press Linn County over ICE detentions and jail conditions

Ashley Gordon, a Marion resident, used the council's public comment period to press the city for greater oversight and to urge officials to press Linn County and Cedar Rapids about conditions and ICE detentions at Linn County Jail.

"Linn County Jail has a contract with ICE," Gordon said, adding that "as of today, in this year, 2026, ICE has used our jail to hold over 220 people that they have detained." She said she provided the council a list of names and described multiple alleged problems at the facility: overcrowded cells, detainees sleeping on the floor, limited access to translation services, and instances in which individuals were deported or signed paperwork without translators present.

Gordon recounted an incident she said involved a man who had been in a car crash: she said he had visible injuries and likely a concussion but said he was taken to the jail rather than medical care and was denied treatment until a community representative spoke to the sheriff; she said that episode lasted more than 20 days before medical attention was secured. "I have proof of all of this," she told the council.

Gordon asked Marion to take specific steps: print immigrants' rights information in the local paper, ensure Marion police follow rules not to call ICE when stopping people, and to "put pressure on Cedar Rapids and to hold them accountable" for conditions at the jail. She urged the city to seek access to information about people the city sends to Linn County Jail and to advocate for better treatment.

No city response or formal action was recorded at the meeting; council members did not debate or vote on the subject during the session.