Winneshiek County jail. Is Decorah jail being eyed by U.S. immigration agents to detain people in the mass Trump raids to arrest people, almost all with brown skin and suspected of having outdated U.S. work permits or none at all. The jail has 35 cells and can accommodate 80 inmates.
Marx refuses complicity with detention illegalities
DECORAH, Iowa – Sheriff Dan Marx has drawn a line in the sand regarding legally questionable detention of thousands of Hispanics and immigrants by federal agents around the country in recent days. “Not in my Winneshiek County” he said. Marx noted reports of arrests without search warrants or court authorizations. In response to ICE and FBI excesses, Marx issued a statement vowing to “make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt their actions from moving forward.” Winneshiek County, population 21,000, has 500 people of Hispanic or Latin origin – about 3%. ICE excesses are not unknown in the area. In 2008 ICE agents descended on nearby Postville, population 2,500, and hauled off 398 people as suspected of being undocumented based n the color of their skin. This was without warning and with no-questions-asked. Some 100 eventually were excused as legally in the country.An issue in the new Trump raids, all in the past two weeks, are so-called “detention writs.” These writs lack the legitimacy of the usual search warrants, which have been vetted by a judge to avoid violations of constitutional right rights and human decency.
Marx. Sheriff since 2015. Won re-election in 2024 with 99% of vote.