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 be

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