A judge has ruled the federal government has violated the due process rights of a mother of three who was detained by ICE in the Polk County Jail after a routine traffic stop.
According to court records, Lucia Rojas De La Cruz, 40, of Des Moines, came to the United States from Mexico in 2003, at age 17. In a letter to the court, Rojas De La Cruz said she crossed the border with her parents, guided by a “coyote,” an individual who smuggles people across the border for a fee.
“We walked in the desert for three days and three nights,” Rojas De La Cruz told the court. “We had no water and no food. I remember crying to my parents … I was so exhausted and scared. We were being guided by a coyote and thank goodness he didn’t leave me and my family behind.”
The court records indicate that in 2016, Rojas De La Cruz moved to Iowa where she raised three daughters, worked continuously and was active in her church.
On Dec. 30, 2025, a Carlisle police officer pulled her over for a defective headlight, then cited her for driving without a valid license and proof of insurance. Rojas De La Cruz was then transported to the Warren County Jail, where agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took custody of her. She was eventually transferred to the Polk County Jail and detained there by ICE.
An immigration judge in Omaha twice denied Rojas De La Cruz a bond hearing, citing the Trump administration’s new interpretation of a federal law that says all immigrants apprehended at the border are subject to mandatory detention. Under the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Justice and ICE have interpreted the mandatory-detention requirement as applying to all immigrants, including those who have lived in the United States for decades with their residency or asylum applications pending.
Rojas De La Cruz took the federal government to court over the matter, arguing her due process rights were being violated, that she had no criminal history aside from traffic citations and had a pending application for asylum in the United States.
“Ms. Rojas De La Cruz was not encountered during a border inspection,” her attorney, Shefali Aurora of the ACLU of Iowa Foundation, told U.S. District Judge Stephen H. Locher. “She was arrested inside the United States after living here for more than 20 years.”
In court filings, lawyers representing U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa David C. Waterman argued there was no due process violation, but did not contest the circumstances of Rojas De La Cruz’s arrest.
On March 16, Locher ordered the immigration court to provide Rojas De La Cruz with a bond hearing.
“She has deep ties to her community and has been steadily employed,” Locher wrote in his ruling, adding that the DOJ’s own exhibits in the case undermined the federal government’s case.
