The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in collaboration with two Colorado law firms, has filed a lawsuit against federal immigration agents, challenging what they describe as the agency’s discriminatory practices of arrests throughout the state.
This lawsuit, initiated in federal court in Colorado, accuses Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of detaining individuals based on their skin color, accent, or perceived nationality, allegedly to meet arrest quotas established under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The legal action is brought forth on behalf of four plaintiffs, including Caroline Dias Goncalves, a 19-year-old University of Utah student who was brought to the U.S. as a child.
Dias Goncalves was arrested in June after a traffic stop by a Mesa County Sheriff deputy, who questioned her about her accent and immigration status.
Following her arrest, she remained in ICE’s detention center in Aurora for 15 days.
The lawsuit underscores the fear experienced by Colorado’s undocumented immigrant population, totaling approximately 169,000, alongside hundreds of thousands of other Latine residents.
According to the lawsuit, these arrests are not only uprooting families but also creating an atmosphere of terror within communities.
Legal representatives from ACLU of Colorado, Meyer Law Office, and Olson Grimsley Kawanabe Hinchcliff & Murray, LLC, have named three defendants in the case: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons, and Director of ICE’s Denver Field Office Robert Guadian.
While ICE’s Denver Field Office directed inquiries to the Department of Homeland Security, there was no immediate official response regarding the lawsuit.
The filing points out a constitutional requirement that ICE agents must establish probable cause before arresting someone on immigration violations, particularly without a warrant.
The plaintiffs allege that their arrests were fundamentally arbitrary.
All plaintiffs reported having experienced physical injuries, pain, and hunger during their encounters with ICE or while in detention.
Refugio Ramirez Ovando, a 43-year-old lawful permanent resident and father of four U.S. citizen children, highlighted his own ordeal.
Having lived in Colorado for 20 years, Ovando reported being stopped by ICE agents in unmarked vehicles in May while driving to work.
He was detained for over 90 days at the detention center in Aurora.
Another plaintiff, identified as J.S.T., a 36-year-old asylum seeker who has lived in Colorado for 15 years, also shared his experience.
On February 5, he was arrested by ICE agents during a raid at his apartment complex just as he left for his job.
J.S.T. spent four weeks in the Aurora detention center and lost his home due to the arrest.
The raid on that day saw ICE activity across at least seven apartment complexes in Denver, Aurora, and Thornton, where agents allegedly solicited identification from tenants without a warrant.
An additional plaintiff, G.R.R., a 32-year-old father and construction business owner, described his arrest during an ICE raid at a nightclub in Colorado Springs.
He had been waiting as a designated driver for a friend when ICE agents detained him for seven weeks.
The lawsuit details the distress inflicted on the plaintiffs and their families, who now live in a constant state of fear of separation.
Through this legal action, the plaintiffs seek to represent a broader class of individuals affected by similar arrests in Colorado since January 20, 2025.
The petition calls for a federal judge to recognize these individuals and grant relief from what they describe as unlawful pre-arrest procedures that do not properly assess the threat of flight.
The lawsuit corroborates accounts from many other individuals who assert they were arrested by ICE during the time of President Donald Trump’s tenure.
Desiring a significant overhaul of immigration enforcement, Trump had promised during his campaign to deport criminal elements while also advocating for an extensive deportation strategy.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller previously indicated an arrest target of a minimum of 3,000 individuals per day, allegedly tied to the administration’s enforcement quotas.
Although the administration later backed away from these specific numbers after facing constitutional scrutiny, the plaintiffs allege lasting harm has been done to immigrant communities nationwide, epitomized by the troubling accounts detailed in the lawsuit.
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