This story was first published at Colorado Newsline.
DENVER | Federal immigration agents arrested 243 immigrants lacking permanent legal status during a nine-day enforcement operation in the Denver area, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced this week.
The arrests occurred from July 12 to July 20. The agency said it had support from Homeland Security Investigations Denver, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ICE’s Dallas field office, the Internal Revenue Service and a handful of other federal agencies.
It provided details for about 50 of the alleged crimes people were arrested for, including assault, theft and driving under the influence. One person was wanted for murder, and another was wanted for human trafficking.
ICE said 50 of the people detained are subject to removal orders. Four are alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
“By partnering with federal agencies, we have successfully apprehended individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety,” Robert Guadian, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Denver Field Office director, said in a statement. He criticized Colorado’s law that prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE and holding people past their jail release time for the purpose of immigration enforcement.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for more information about the charges involved with the arrests and how many people from the operation have since been deported. The announcement names one person who has been deported following a murder and DUI conviction.
The arrested immigrants are from 17 countries, including Mexico, Venezuela, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The number of ICE arrests in the operation was an increase compared to recent similar time periods, according to figures from the Deportation Data Project, with information that runs through the end of June. Over nine-day periods since the start of May, there have been an average of about 104 arrests in Colorado. Between June 9 and June 17, there was a peak of 165 arrests, 60 of which were for people convicted of crimes.
Karen Orona, communication manager for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, wrote in a text message to Colorado Newsline that “every detention steals from our communities.”
“ICE’s hollow claims about targeting criminals have been exposed as lies, most shockingly when they deported legally present immigrants to a known torture camp in El Salvador. ICE targets asylum seekers, green card holders, and parents of U.S. citizens, then denies them due process in a system where legal help is a privilege, not a right,” she wrote. “No human being deserves to be disappeared into detention camps or deported to danger.”
The recently-enacted federal tax cut and spending bill set aside about $170 billion for immigration enforcement and $75 billion for ICE specifically, which could supercharge immigration enforcement across the country as the Trump administration pushes for more detentions and deportations.
Six locations in Colorado have been floated as potential new ICE detention facilities, according to documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union. There is already a private immigration detention center run by GEO Group in Aurora.
This story was made available via the Colorado News Collaborative. Learn more at https://www.google.com/url?q=https://colabnews.co&source=gmail-imap&ust=1754080620000000&usg=AOvVaw29D3F7IRPXwz640t3qGQEz
Let’s see ICE rounded up 243 people that Trump assured us were hardened criminals that we desperately needed to expel from our midst. So while they brag about the success of their operation, they can only cite 50 crimes associated with 243 people. Geez, I thought they were targeting drug dealers, rapists, and murderers, but it appears they are sweeping up more than that – a lot more! My count reveals that almost 200 of the detained are not criminals. How are we to be assured that these 200 souls who appear to be innocent of any violence are getting back to their families, jobs, churches, and normal lives? The vast majority of our immigrants contribute mightily to our economy by working hard, paying taxes, and starting businesses that employ Americans! We must resist this barbaric purge!
If they’re here illegally, they’re criminals by default.
What don’t you understand? I recently retired after serving 43 years in Law Enforcement. We were instructed not to cooperate with ICE. As Border Czar Tom Holman has stated many times, if LE agencies would just turn the criminal Illegal Aliens over to ICE, prior to releasing them from jail again and again back into the community, ICE wouldn’t have to “Flood the Zone”, whereby non criminal Illegals get swept up with the criminals.