A family that sought legal asylum in the United States before their hopes were dashed by federal immigration enforcement in October has reunited in their home country of Colombia.
Fernando Jaramillo-Solano, 45, and his two 12- and 15-year-old children arrived at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota, Colombia’s capital, on Dec. 9 or 10, said Liza Tregillus of the Apoyo Immigrant Partner Team.
Tregillus worked with the family throughout their asylum case and is still in contact with them. She served as a liaison between The Durango Herald, Jaramillo-Solano and his wife, Estella Patiño, for this story.
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The couple gave their consent to share their story despite their ongoing fears for Patiño’s safety and well-being.
The family was removed from the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, at midnight Dec. 9 after spending more than a month there and transferred with other families awaiting deportation to an airport – Jaramillo-Solano said he did not know which one – where a Colombian plane awaited.
They arrived at the airfield in shackles, Tregillus said, and left uncuffed.
“Columbia actually sent a flight to pick them up because they don’t like the people arriving in shackles. They had been turning (U.S.) flights away,” she said.
Jaramillo-Solano and his children, along with a mother and her two children, boarded the plane and were promptly given food and clothing. He said he was moved by the sudden show of hospitality.
Soon after, two buses full of more deportees – one busload of men and another of women – arrived. The people disembarked the buses in shackles, which were soon removed, and boarded the plane.
Family members greeted Jaramillo-Solano and his children upon their arrival in Bogota with hugs and a banner that read, “Bienvenidos a casa” – or Welcome home.
In a video recorded by the welcome party, Jaramillo-Solano hugs his wife Estella Patiño’s oldest daughter.
Patiño herself was not present for the reunion. She was still in Durango in an undisclosed safe house, unsure of how to proceed with her active asylum case, Tregillus said.
The Patiño-Solano family had lived in Durango for 18 months as they waited for their asylum claim to be processed. It was the strongest asylum case Tregillus had ever seen, she said.
But a fateful case of mistaken identity led to the arrest of Jaramillo-Solano and his children by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents on their way to school on Oct. 27.
Just days later, The Denver Post reported ICE-Denver’s third-ranking agent acknowledged in federal court proceedings officers didn’t realize they were pulling over Jaramillo-Solano when they mistook him for another person, but proceeded to arrest him without a warrant anyway.
Later, as reported by The Colorado Sun, a federal judge ruled ICE’s method of arresting people without warrants and without probable cause that the person is a flight risk is “unlawful.”
The lawsuit was filed by the Meyer Law Office, American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado and Olson Grimsley Kawanabe Hinchcliff & Murray LLC on behalf of four people arrested by ICE last year.
The plaintiffs submitted Jaramillo-Solano’s and his children’s arrests as evidence ICE’s “illegal” arrest practices are widespread, The Denver Post reported.
In his ruling favoring the plaintiffs, the federal judge said three of the plaintiffs “now represent a class that includes all people arrested since Jan. 20, 2025,” according to The Colorado Sun.
Jaramillo-Solano’s and his children’s arrests quickly spurred outrage in the Durango community. Protesters set up outside the ICE field office in Durango’s Bodo Industrial Park the same morning of the arrest, determined to prevent agents from separating the family and leaving with the children.
Federal officers responded to the protest – which included some demonstrators linking arms and blocking the facility entrance and exit – with pepper spray and rubber bullets.
Allegations soon emerged that detention staff members had abused the family, including claims that an ICE agent inappropriately touched Jaramillo-Solano’s daughter’s chest.
An ICE spokesperson said all reports of misconduct are taken seriously. Requests by the Herald for ICE’s policies regarding detention of minors and engagement with protests were not returned.
Patiño has since returned to Colombia, but her troubles aren’t over, Tregillus said. Patiño has sent her videos of suspicious men lurking outside her temporary residence.
Patiño sought asylum from Colombia in the U.S. to begin with because of the threat to her life from guerrilla forces opposing the Colombian government.
Seven of Patiño’s family members, including her first husband, uncle and grandfather, have been killed for political reasons, Tregillus said.
The U.S. Department of State ranks its travel advisory for Colombia at Level 3 – “Reconsider travel” – and notes some areas of the country are ranked at Level 4 – “Do not travel.”
It cites violent crime such as “murder, assault, and robbery;” organized crime such as “extortion, robbery, and kidnapping;” and terrorist violence.
Tregillus acknowledged the sentiment shared by some that if an asylum-seeker returns to his or her country of origin, then their asylum claim must not have been serious.
“I can’t see anything more serious than having lost multiple family members,” she said. “No. 1, she chose to be reunited with her family because her daughter had been molested by an ICE agent and she wanted to comfort her daughter whose mental health has been quite fragile after their arrest and six weeks of detention.”
Patiño is looking to seek asylum abroad again – but likely not in the U.S., Tregillus said.
Money initially raised in a GoFundMe campaign for the family’s legal fees following the arrest of the father and children are being held for the family’s future asylum efforts.
The family, who once believed they could safely build new lives in the U.S., have lost their trust in a system that tore them apart, Tregillus said.
She said she’s certain Jaramillo-Solano and his children would have eventually been released from ICE detention given the strength of their case. But Jaramillo-Solano could not bear the thought of his children waiting for months – and risking separation in the process – before they were freed, especially with no guarantee they wouldn’t be arrested again.
cburney@durangoherald.com
