Last week, some immigrant advocacy groups and local attorneys saw an uptick in community reports of federal immigration enforcement actions in the Roaring Fork Valley and I-70 mountain corridor.
Aspen Public Radio’s All Things Considered anchor Halle Zander spoke with Social Justice Reporter Eleanor Bennett about the latest reports and her conversations with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), local law enforcement agencies, immigration attorneys, and advocacy groups.
The conversation below has been edited for clarity and length.
Halle Zander: What do we know so far about how many people ICE arrested last week?
Eleanor Bennett: So I want to be clear that we don’t have an actual number right now. ICE declined to share local arrest numbers citing security and safety concerns, and the agency hasn’t updated its public dashboard with regional data since December. According to a spokesperson, that’s because they’ve been receiving support from other federal agencies and haven’t finished compiling all that data.
We also reached out to local law enforcement to see if they were aware of any ICE operations last week. Most of them said they were not, but some in Eagle County were aware of community reports, and the Rifle Police Department was notified by ICE that they would be operating in Garfield County.
A majority of law enforcement agencies we talked to said they haven’t been involved in any ICE operations this year, but the Garfield County Sheriff did say if any other law enforcement agency, including immigration enforcement, requests backup, they will respond to the best of their abilities.
Zander: Okay, well there are some local groups that are tracking arrests. What are they noticing?
Bennett: Yeah, so Glenwood Springs-based nonprofit Voces Unidas has a hotline where people can make reports. Executive Director Alex Sánchez says over the last week the organization received a lot more calls than usual, and they were able to verify some of these.
Sánchez says they do this by first talking with any witnesses and families who had someone detained by federal immigration agents, and then they track that person in the ICE database using their personal information. In most cases, the individual is listed as “in transit” — this could mean they’re taking them to an ICE detention center like the one in Aurora.
But it’s still really hard to put exact numbers to this, and although Voces Unidas wants people to stay informed, it’s also cautioning against spreading fear and misinformation, especially on social media.
“To make sure that we're not scaring people more than we're already scared, and that we're not contributing to rumors, even if the intent is not to be malicious,” Sánchez said.
I also spoke with two local immigration attorneys, Claire Noone and Jennifer Smith, who are toeing that same line. Smith said her office saw a noticeable increase in calls last week from people saying a family member or someone close to them was detained by ICE.
Noone volunteers with the Colorado Rapid Response Network, which also tracks ICE activity. Under the new administration, she said federal immigration enforcement seems to come in waves and last week might have been one of those upticks.
Zander: Alright, well can you tell us more about the nature of these arrests?
Bennett: So both Noone and Voces Unidas say these appear to be targeted operations where ICE is looking for a specific individual.
“These are different from what we would call kind of ‘large-scale raids’ in which a large show of force is used to maybe kind of cause fear and sweep up what are called, ‘collateral arrests,’” Noone said.
But she says there are still some incidents where more than one person is being detained.
It’s worth noting that Noone is working with several people who she says were arrested as part of two traffic stops on Highway 82 last week — something Voces Unidas has also seen recent reports of.
According to both the attorneys I spoke with, ICE has limited authority to do traffic stops and cannot just pull someone over for speeding. Noone is working to determine the exact process ICE followed in these instances. She’s also filed state and federal public records requests to obtain information on things like numbers of local arrests, what agencies were involved, and any communication between local law enforcement and ICE.
Since the new administration took office, Noone says there’s also been cases of arrests at people’s homes and at courthouses.
Zander: Okay so Pitkin, Garfield, and Rio Blanco counties’ chief judge recently issued an order telling ICE officials to stop arresting people at courthouses — saying it interferes with the justice system.
Have there been any instances of immigration arrests since then?
Bennett: Again, the short answer is we don’t know. Noone says she’s not aware of any reports since the judge’s order on April 8.
The Rapid Response Network she volunteers with actually captured video earlier this year that was used to help get the judge to issue the order. As CPR reported last month, it was the first known time that a judge used this Colorado law from 2020 designed to make courts safe from immigration raids, but it only applies to civil enforcement actions, so law enforcement officers are still allowed to arrest someone with a criminal warrant who has an immigration case at a courthouse.
Zander: How are immigration lawyers and advocacy groups responding to all of this?
Bennett: In addition to the reporting hotlines we already mentioned, groups like Voces Unidas and the Colorado Rapid Response Network are working to track events and provide people with Know Your Rights resources. That includes information on what to do if ICE comes to your door or how to tell the difference between an ICE deportation order versus a warrant signed by a judge.
Some of the most basic rights people have include the right to remain silent, to consult with a lawyer before answering questions, and to refrain from allowing ICE into their home unless they have a judicial search warrant.
Groups like Voces Unidas are also connecting people with immigration lawyers both locally and across Colorado. And in addition to helping with some specific cases, Attorney Claire Noone is creating a toolkit that families can use to navigate the hours, days and weeks after an arrest, and she hopes to have that up and running next week.
Zander: Eleanor, thank you so much for your reporting on this.
Bennett: Absolutely, thanks for having me.
