Jose Ivan and Adolphe Gonzales are eating lunch at Garcia’s market in Carbondale. Neither know Enrique Garcia, the man arrested at the Pitkin County Courthouse in mid-October by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Both Ivan and Gonzales heard about the arrest, however, and say it reinforces the fact undocumented people in the U.S. should stay away from courthouses.
“[They’re] scared to go to these places. They want to do things right, but can’t because they’re scared they’re going to get picked up,” said Ivan.
Gonzales agrees and adds arrests like these send a pretty clear message to undocumented people: If law enforcement learns you’re undocumented, you’re out of here.
ICE says courthouses are a safe place for officers to make arrests; critics of the practice say it damages immigrants’ trust in the legal system.
According to Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo, the agents were well within their authority when they arrested Garcia.
“Federal agents have the right to operate in Pitkin County whenever they want,” he said. “Whether that’s DEA, FBI; the Secret Service is up here all the time.”
That list includes ICE, DiSalvo says, and he also thinks a courthouse is a perfectly good place to make an arrest; after all, his deputies do it all the time. People go through a metal detector, so they’re not armed.
“It’s really not a bad idea. And, on that level, I really gotta tip my hat to ICE,” DiSalvo said.
Some argue courthouses are among the best places to make arrests. Jessica Vaughn is with the Center for Immigration Studies, a think-tank in favor of limiting immigration. She says it’s far better than making arrests in homes or workplaces.
“That’s the kind of enforcement that is dangerous for ICE officers and, frankly, it’s frightening to the people in the community,” Vaughn said.
She maintains law enforcement of any kind needs to be able to do its job, which is how they maintain trust within their communities.
“Civic trust is undermined if our laws are not enforced and if our federal agencies are not able to carry out their legitimate responsibilities to enforce immigration laws,” Vaughn said.
Mark Silverstein, the Legal Director at the ACLU of Colorado, disagrees: Being undocumented is not the same thing as being a criminal.
“This portrait of persons without immigration status being some kind of menace to society, a danger to the community is a exaggerated caricature that’s being promoted solely for political purposes,” Silverstein said.
The bigger problem, he says, is that ICE is now targeting anyone without immigration status, even victims of crimes, which ultimately takes a toll on our legal system.
Brendan Green, with the Colorado Immigrants Rights Coalition, agrees and says ICE arrests at courthouses are more common since the Trump inauguration.
“It’s extremely discouraging. This process of detaining innocent community members chills participation in the criminal justice system,” Green said.
The Denver city attorney, for example, has had clients who were victims of domestic violence. Because they’re undocumented, however, they decided not to testify against their abusers, out of fear of the courthouse.
“We really believe victims of crimes should be able to testify in court and report crimes in the first place without fear of deportation,” said Green.
Those who have been accused and not convicted should have a chance to defend themselves. Enrique Garcia, the man arrested at the Pitkin County courthouse, has not been convicted of a crime in Pitkin County, but still was taken by ICE. Here’s Mark Silverstein of the ACLU says this can affect local courts.
“Certainly making the arrest of someone who is trying to defend himself from charges taking him into ICE custody, thwarts the operation of the local criminal justice system,” said Silverstein.
Garcia is currently in ICE custody in Aurora. A district court judge rescheduled his court date for Dec. 3. It’s unclear if Garcia will be released by then, to defend himself against the crimes he’s been accused of.
