Asylum-seekers from West Africa seek release from Muscatine County Jail

Two asylum-seekers from Togo are seeking their release from an Iowa county jail where they’re being held by federal immigration enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Togo, officially known as the Togolese Republic, is a West African country bordered by Ghana and has been criticized by human rights advocates for alleged abuses that include the physical torture of political dissidents.

Ahouansou Jomlan Berdino Gnassounou and Kota Djimba have each filed federal lawsuits against Muscatine County Sheriff Quinn Riess, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, and David Easterwood, a field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Gnassounou, 23, alleges that as a citizen of Togo, he entered the United States near the Arizona border in January 2025 and was released by U.S. Border Patrol, after which he sought asylum in the United States.

His lawsuit alleges that ICE agents arrested him in August 2026 after he arrived at an ICE office for a voluntary check-in with immigration officials. He alleges ICE has offered no explanation for the revocation of his release in 2025 or his continued detention in the Muscatine County Jail.

Detention records authored by ICE officials, included in the court file as exhibits, indicate Gnassounou told authorities he was afraid of returning to Togo and that he told them “he will be tortured if returned.”

The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the Department of Homeland Security to provide him with a bond hearing at which the agency will bear the burden of proof in demonstrating that he is either a flight risk or a danger to the community. In his lawsuit, Gnassounou asserts that he has no criminal history or outstanding warrants for his arrest.

Djimba – his name is spelled “Kjimba” in some court records – alleges that like Gnassounou, he was detained by Border Patrol agents in January 2025 near the Arizona border, and was released soon after.

He alleges he was arrested by ICE in August 2026 after showing up at the agency’s Cedar Rapids office for what he thought would be a routine check-in, and that he was then transferred to the Muscatine County Jail where he still remains.

Djimba, 47, argues that he has no criminal history and that ICE has violated his constitutional rights by failing to provide him with an adequate opportunity to challenge the need for his continued incarceration. His lawsuit seeks a writ restoring the January 2025 conditions of his release.

Stephanie Rose, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, issued an order Wednesday giving federal officials until next Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, to state the true cause and expected duration of Djimba’s confinement and to show why the requested writ should not be issued.

The U.S. Department of Justice has yet to respond to either of the lawsuits filed by Djimba and Gnassounou.