CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Advocates say a fence under construction that will block views of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Cedar Rapids will impede efforts to offer support to immigrants.
The fence, at the building the Department of Homeland Security leases at 3351 Square D Drive SW, was nearing completion as of March 30, 2026.
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A notice against trespassing is posted at the rear of the ICE office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
“The fence is unnecessary from a safety perspective and it will only allow ICE to do their work in hiding,” said the Rev. Jonathan Heifner, lead pastor at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids.
Heifner added that the symbolism of the fence is also problematic.
“It suggests that those of us on the outside have no business knowing what happens there and those who have to go inside should be behind fences; they should not,” he said. “Practically speaking, this fence will make it more difficult to connect and provide support to those who have to stand in line to enter the building.”
Advocates who accompany immigrants to their check-ins with ICE have said the fence is intended to hide detentions and family separations from view and to undermine First Amendment and religious-freedom activities.
Annya Mari, who regularly attends the check-ins, told the city’s Historic Preservation Commission last week that the fence isn’t needed.
“There’s never been a threat towards (ICE). They’ve never been unsafe,” she said. “The fence is purely to block humanitarian aid.”
Mari was outside the ICE office on Monday to document construction of the fence.
Immigrant advocate Annya Mari documents construction of the fence on March 30, 2026. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Even before the city commission responded to a required federal process during their meeting on Thursday, March 26, work was underway on the fence.
As part of their role, the Historic Preservation Commission reviews demolition applications for buildings 50 years old and older, among other issues, but is also asked to comment on undertakings under the Section 106 process, which requires federal agencies to consider the effects of their projects on historic properties.
The commission previously responded to the federal department, noting that the fence would block the former Pepco headquarters, a mid-century building designed by acclaimed Cedar Rapids architect Leo Peiffer. Built by 1976, the building could potentially qualify for the National Register of Historic Places, they said, also asking that any fence not obscure views of the building.
ICE claimed that the building was ineligible for listing on the register. During its March 26 meeting, the commission questioned the process ICE used make that determination.
While ICE admitted that Peiffer was a well-known mid-century modern architect, they claimed the former Pepco office is not the “best representation” of his work, citing a building demolished decades ago as a better example of his work, even though it no longer exists.
The commission asked if a qualified historian made that determination, but even before receiving the commission’s comments last week, ICE had already begun construction.
More: Commission responds to blatant ICE inaccuracies
The Cedar Rapids Historic Preservation Commission said the ICE office might qualify for the National Register of Historic Places, but ICE officials said a nonexistent building was a better example of the architect’s work. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
A site plan shows fencing around the entire perimeter of the location, with approximately 350 linear feet of new 10-foot-high galvanized fencing to the northwest side, and about 275 linear feet of new 7-foot-high galvanized chain-link fence in front of the office. Privacy netting will also be installed on portions of the fence.
Kate Ries, co-owner of Life Time Fence Co., of Palo, said she was not aware if ICE had asked for expedited construction of the fence.
The company did not take politics of the fence installation into consideration, she said.
“If someone needs a fence, we usually don’t look at it that way,” Ries said. “It’s usually for safety.”
Advocates will be delivering a petition at noon Wednesday, April 1, to the office of U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson in the federal courthouse, 111 Seventh Ave. SE, asking Hinson to meet with clergy concerned over her threats toward the faith-based Escucha Mi Voz Iowa.
They will also be outside the Cedar Rapids ICE office on Tuesday, April 7, to support immigrants going to their ICE check-ins.
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