POLK COUNTY, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – The attorney for an immigration detainee held in the Polk County Jail says federal officials maliciously staged a “sham” court hearing orchestrated to keep his client behind bars.
The case involves Suraj Vasal, who four years ago came to the United States from India seeking asylum and was then released on his own recognizance.
Court filings indicate that on Feb. 11, 2026, Vasal was driving a commercial semitruck on Interstate 80 in Iowa when he failed to stop at a weigh station. Iowa State Patrol Trooper Nathaniel Rippey pulled Vasal over, ticketed him, and then made an “immigration inquiry” to have Immigration and Customs Enforcement check Vasal’s status…