Reports on social media that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were attempting to detain an individual inside La Plata County Courthouse this week are incorrect, court officials said on Friday.
The Colorado Rapid Response Network, a coalition of immigrants rights advocates, reported on Facebook on Wednesday that two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were encountered inside La Plata County Courthouse in Durango, attempting to detain someone.
“Confirmed,” the post said in capital letters. “ICE inside La Plata County Courthouse in Durango Colorado.”
The post was shared by Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center.
The post was accompanied by photos of a man in plain clothes, standing in front of the courthouse exit. The post also included a video of the man walking through the courthourse toward the exit, although the video now appears to be have been deleted.
CORRN did not return an email requesting comment on Friday.
Sixth Judicial District Court Chief Judge Jeffrey Wilson said he understands why a report by a concerned citizen was made, but federal agents inside the courthouse on Wednesday were at the courthouse on official business and no confrontation occurred, to his knowledge.
“It started with a grain of truth, and with the stuff that's going on now, it just runs wild,” he said.
The agents in question were Homeland Security agents, not ICE agents, he said, and they were attending federal court for a fentanyl drug case they were involved in.
The agents followed standard procedure – they checked their weapons in with security when they arrived at the courthouse and retrieved them as they left, he said.
“To my knowledge, there was no interaction with anybody other than them just doing the normal course of business,” he said.
In Colorado, law enforcement officers are prohibited from making civil arrests of individuals while the individuals are present at a courthouse or on its premises, or while the individuals are going to or leaving court proceedings.
Officers not employed by or contracted with courthouse security are required to identify themselves to security and state their business, and that information must be logged, according to the Prohibit Courthouse Civil Arrest bill.
“They can go into the public areas, and we are the only combined state and federal courthouse in the nation, and they have reason to be in here,” Wilson said. “It's a little bit different situation from anybody else, but all law enforcement officers, unless they’re security, are required to drop off their weapons at the at the check station.
He said federal law enforcement and immigration officers are not being treated any differently than other law enforcement officers.
cburney@durangoherald.com
