After rescinding protections, ICE is moving to deport more immigrants who were victims of crime

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Days after he nearly died when an assailant shot him during a robbery attempt, Felipe de Jesus Hernandez Marcelo went to an Iowa police station hoping to get his belongings back.

The police in Muscatine, Iowa had his car and the cash he was carrying when he was shot and nearly killed on June 21. Hernandez, 28, recalled in court testimony that the department said he couldn't have those items back. Instead, police arrested him on an old warrant for failing to pay a traffic ticket.

Within hours, Hernandez was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He's been detained ever since pending removal proceedings, having entered the country illegally from his native Mexico in 2021.

Hernandez is one of a growing number of crime victims and relatives who have been arrested and indefinitely detained during the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

ICE has rescinded a policy that had shielded many victims from detention and removal. The number of people applying for visas that allow some victims and their families to remain in the country appears to have plummeted. Others are being detained as they go through the lengthy application process. Of those detained, many have been declared ineligible for release under another ICE policy change.

Critics say the outcome is not only cruel to victims and their families but is harming public safety by making those who are in the U.S. illegally unlikely to report crimes and cooperate with police.

“This type of thing is now the new normal. This scenario is happening every day in every city,” said Dan Kowalski, a retired attorney and expert on immigration law. “Any contact with any level or kind of state or federal law enforcement, civil or criminal, puts you in danger of detention by ICE.”

In January, ICE rescinded a policy that called on agents to generally avoid detaining and seeking to remove immigrants who have been crime victims. It protected those carrying so-called U and T visas that allow crime and human trafficking victims and their relatives to remain in the country. The protections extended to those who had applied for such visas and were awaiting decisions, which can take years to process.

Hernandez is seeking to apply for a U visa, and would appear to be eligible as the victim of a felony assault and key witness against the two charged in the attack. But the Muscatine County prosecutor Jim Barry has yet to certify his eligibility, according to Hernandez’s attorney. Barry didn’t respond to messages.

The Biden-era policy called on ICE agents to look for signs immigrants had been victimized and to consider that as “a positive discretionary factor” when deciding whether to detain them. The goal was to avoid discouraging immigrant victims from cooperating with police in reporting and solving crimes.

But some conservatives have argued that victimization alone should not entitle immigrants to a benefit.

The new policy allows ICE agents to detain crime victims, including the U and T visa holders, as long as they check with police “to ensure criminal investigative and other enforcement actions will not be compromised.” Agents aren’t required to look for any evidence of victimization.

The number of applications for U visas dropped by nearly half in the quarter that ended in March, which included the first 2½ months of the new Trump administration, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Some immigration lawyers say the drop reflects concerns that an application by itself will put someone on the government's radar for potential removal.

Immigration lawyer Bethany Hoffmann said one of her clients, whose wife had been a kidnapping victim, was arrested by ICE when he showed up to an appointment to be fingerprinted as part of the U visa application process.

“I have been practicing for 17 years and I have never seen that before,” she said, adding that the man had no criminal history but was subject to a 10-year-old removal order.

Court documents show other U visa applicants across the country have been taken into custody by ICE, including a woman detained in Maine who had been assaulted and kidnapped in 2021.

Compounding the impact is another new practice in which ICE and immigration judges have required the indefinite detention of anyone who entered the country without permission.

Over the past 30 years, immigration lawyers say many such detainees would have been able to be released pending removal proceedings as long as they were deemed not to be a flight risk or danger to the community. With a steady job, local relatives and a minimal criminal history, Hernandez would have been a candidate for release.

But instead, he has been at the Muscatine County Jail in ICE detention for nearly three months.

Hernandez has been apart from the 9-year-old son he was raising as a single father, unable attend medical appointments critical for recovering from his gunshot wounds, and unable to work the construction job that paid his family’s bills.

He said he was denied medicine for the first five days as he suffered in excruciating pain, he said.

“I was locked in a single cell for several days. It felt like forever,” Hernandez recalled this month in court testimony.

A federal judge ruled on Sept. 10 that ICE's detention of Hernandez without a bond hearing was illegal, and ordered an immigration court to hold one within seven days. She found that he was suffering “irreparable harm” in the meantime. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

An alley in a residential neighborhood is shown in Muscatine, Iowa, on Sept. 8, 2025, where police say Felipe de Jesus Hernandez Marcelo was lured to the alley before he was shot on June 21. (AP photo by Ryan J. Foley).

A cyclist crosses an intersection, on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, where witnesses found Felipe de Jesus Hernandez Marcelo covered in blood after he was shot on June 21, in Muscatine, Iowa. (AP Photo/Ryan J. Foley)

The Muscatine County Jail where Felipe de Jesus Hernandez Marcelo has been detained and doubles as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility, since late June is shown in Muscatine, Iowa, on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ryan J. Foley)

A mural on the side of a building is shown in downtown Muscatine, Iowa, on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ryan J. Foley.)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Drake Maye made his first NFL start against the Houston Texans. The New England Patriots' second-year quarterback has come a long way in the 15 months since.

“That feels like, shoot, 10 years ago. It’s been a long journey,” Maye said. “Running out there with the first-snap jitters was pretty cool. It was fun to look back on. We’ll hopefully have a different outcome from (that) game.”

Maye and C.J. Stroud each threw three touchdown passes that day, but Maye also was intercepted twice and sacked four times in the Texans' 41-21 win.

Houston (13-5) and New England (15-3) meet again Sunday, this time with a trip to the AFC championship game at stake.

The Patriots are seeking their first appearance in the title game since the 2018 season, when they went on to win a sixth Super Bowl. The Texans have never made it that far, having lost in the divisional round in each of the past two seasons under third-year coach DeMeco Ryans.

“We’ve been in this position before. I think we’ve learned from those things. Now it’s time to go put it on tape,” Stroud said.

Both teams have exceeded expectations. The Patriots went from worst to first in the AFC East, while the Texans recovered from an 0-3 start and are riding a 10-game winning streak.

It's a matchup of strength against strength. The Patriots averaged an AFC-best 28.8 points per game, and the Texans have the NFL's top-ranked defense.

“I respect how hard they play,” New England coach Mike Vrabel said. “They’re not only talented, but they have a play demeanor that I can appreciate.”

Ryans believes much of the Patriots’ offensive success can be traced to Maye's growth under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. He's impressed with how much freedom Maye — the league’s most accurate passer — has been given to run.

“I think he is doing a really good job of not making bad decisions with the football,” Ryans said. “Where he’s taking that next step is his ability to escape the pocket. I think it really doesn’t get talked about much, but his athletic ability, his ability to escape the pocket has been really clutch for them.”

The Texans' top receiver, Pro Bowler Nico Collins, will miss the game after sustaining his second concussion of the season in Monday night's wild-card win at Pittsburgh. Receiver Justin Watson (concussion) was also ruled out on Friday.

Christian Kirk had a big game against the Steelers and the Texans are hoping for a repeat performance. The eight-year veteran set a career high and franchise playoff record with 144 yards receiving.

Kirk had just 239 yards receiving in the regular season.

Houston will also look for rookies Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel to pitch in after the college teammates from Iowa State combined for 817 yards receiving and eight touchdowns in the regular season.

The Texans will also try to get tight end Dalton Schultz more involved after he had just 12 yards receiving on Monday night.

“I’m the most confident in everybody in there to get the job done,” Stroud said.

Stroud fumbled just twice in his 14 regular-season games but coughed up the ball five times against the Steelers, two of them leading to turnovers. He also threw an interception.

Stroud hopes to take better care of the ball, but he said mistakes happen against strong opponents in the playoffs and the key is not letting those miscues affect the next play.

“I watched almost all the wild-card games since we played the last game,” Stroud said. “Everybody made mistakes. Everybody had that moment where it was like, ‘Dang, we’re messing this up.’ Then the teams who find a way to fight through that and keep going were the teams that came out on top.”

Stroud also threw for 250 yards and a touchdown as he became the fourth quarterback in NFL history to start and win a playoff game in each of his first three seasons.

One thing Patriots rookie left tackle Will Campbell has learned this season is how to ignore naysayers.

Campbell was criticized on social media after yielding a team-high six pressures and two sacks — including a strip-sack — in the Patriots’ wild-card win over the Chargers. Now he'll face a stiffer challenge against Houston's fearsome defensive ends, All-Pro Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.

“I don’t give a (expletive) what anyone says to be honest with you,” Campbell said. “It’s easy to type behind a Twitter account that is fake. I hold myself to the highest expectation of anybody. ... These are the best teams with the best defenses and the best offenses, the best players. They’re in the playoffs for a reason.”

Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs welcomes the chance to shine against the Texans, for whom he played one injury-shortened season.

Diggs was traded by Buffalo to Houston following the 2023 season. He played eight games for the Texans in 2024 before suffering a season-ending knee injury. He then signed with New England and led the team with 85 catches and 1,013 receiving yards.

“He’s very explosive after he catches the football,” Ryans said. “Another guy we’ve got to make sure we have eyes on.”

AP Sports Wrier Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this report.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel on the sidelines in the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, left, stands on the sideline during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Houston Texans, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Houston Texans defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (90) celebrates with cornerback Tremon Smith (11), defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (51) and linebacker E.J. Speed (45) after a touchdown during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, left, avoids a tackle by Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack (52) in the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)