How would you, as a member of our delightful, supportive town, describe the Durango Community Recreation Center? Perhaps it’s your second home or a place where your kids can play or where you foster friendships built on common ground. The Rec Center is about community – our people, our folks.
In short, the Rec Center is a sacred space.
On New Year’s Eve, that space was violated. Federal ICE agents, some of whom call our town their home, kidnapped a fellow member of our community. The seizure is illegal because the stated purpose of such immigration actions is removing dangerous criminals.
Nope, not this time. Pedro Gutierrez Ruiz not only has no criminal record, he has fewer parking tickets and speeding tickets than anyone I know – he has zero. Rather, Pedro’s record is one of fatherhood, tax paying and economic development.
ICE is stealing fathers and business owners from Durango, not criminals or thugs. U.S. law for entering without legal authorization (U.S. Code § 1325) states that a person shall be “fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.” Not a word about seizures, detention centers or deportation without due process.
How much has ICE cost U.S. taxpayers in 2025? According to Herman Legal Group, we’re footing a $17,000 bill per deportation. Meanwhile, immigrants have paid immigration lawyers $30,000 on average yet still cannot become U.S. citizens.
Using ICE’s $30B budget to fix the broken immigration process would be a positive step toward safer communities, illegally seizing and deporting our neighbors is not.
Elli Morris
Durango
