Updated on Jan. 23 at 3:47 p.m.
When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detains someone in a vehicle, the car is often abandoned until family or friends can pick it up.
According to Voces Unidas, a Glenwood Springs-based Latino advocacy nonprofit, several people retrieved cars in Eagle County this week following apparent ICE arrests.
Some allegedly found an ace of spades playing card left behind with a phone number and address printed on it for an ICE processing center in Aurora.
Voces Unidas published a blog post about the playing cards on Thursday afternoon, noting that U.S. soldiers used the ace of spades as an intimidation tactic during the Vietnam War. They pinned the playing cards to the bodies of enemy soldiers as a symbol of death.
“We are disgusted by ICE’s actions in Eagle County,” said Alex Sánchez, president and CEO of Voces Unidas in the blog post. “Leaving a racist death card behind after targeting Latino workers is deliberate intimidation rooted in a long history of racial violence. This is an abuse of power, and it has no place in any society that claims to value human dignity.”
Aspen Public Radio has not been able to independently verify this account, but the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office has seen photos online of the cards and is investigating the incident.
A spokesperson for the department said they had reached out to ICE’s Denver field office about the cards and called the incident “disturbing.”
It’s unclear if ICE officials left the cards, but according to an ICE spokesperson, the agency is investigating the situation and "unequivocally condemns this type of action and/or officer conduct."
