Colorado is again left protecting constitutional rights where the federal government will not. This week, a federal judge ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement engaged in unlawful arrest practices in Colorado – detaining people without warrants and without documented flight-risk assessment (Herald, Nov. 28). The court ordered ICE to repay bond money, remove ankle monitors and stop circumventing constitutional standards. This is not merely a win for advocacy groups – it is a win for all who believe in the rule of law.
The ruling also lands in the shadow of what happened in Durango on Oct. 27, when ICE agents stopped Fernando Jaramillo Solano and his children, 12-year-old Jana and 15-year-old Kewin, on their way to school in Durango (Herald, Oct. 29). ICE later acknowledged Solano was not the person they were looking for – yet the family was held for 36 hours in Durango before being transferred to Texas where they remain two months later. More than 200 residents protested for a full day and night outside the ICE field office — facing pepper spray, rubber bullets, and one woman being slammed to the ground (Herald, Oct. 31).
What remains hardest to hear – and what should disturb anyone with a conscience – was the account shared by Estela Patiño, the children’s mother, describing her phone call with her son and daughter in detention, testimony she gave during the Nov. 18 Durango City Council meeting (at 1:15:45 here: https://tinyurl.com/ycxb9n43).
The children told their mother that agents allegedly beat them, tied their limbs, and locked them bruised and hungry in a room without light, given only chips and water. Jana said that when she was separated in a vehicle, an agent allegedly touched her private parts and chest; when Kewin protested – saying, “Don’t touch my sister” – he was beaten.
Their father, restrained in a chair, slept upright with Jana on his lap – and when he begged to know what would happen to them, an agent told him they didn’t care what happened to his children. This is trauma – alleged physical and sexual abuse – inflicted by federal agents and carried now by a father, a mother and two children.
The family’s asylum case remains active, and Estela has not signed removal papers; she remains here, waiting for her hearing (Herald, Nov. 21). But Fernando and the children have agreed to voluntary departure to Colombia, not because their claim is weak – an immigration judge called it strong – but because indefinite detention became unbearable.
Advocates report Jana is experiencing acute psychological distress, and Fernando is “mentally drained – hurt, angry, and done believing promises.” Their choice was bleak: remain detained for an unknown length of time, or return to the same country they fled in fear seeking protection here.
The impact has spread far beyond one family. The Durango City Council has requested a congressional investigation into ICE’s actions. Sen. John Hickenlooper called the arrests “an American tragedy” and vowed to pursue answers: “Two innocent children will carry this trauma for the rest of their lives.” So will our community.
Businesses are responding, too. 11th Street Station – echoing a movement growing across the country – now posts this notice at its entrance:
NO ENTRY WITHOUT A JUDICIAL WARRANT.
WE DO NOT CONSENT TO SEARCH OR QUESTIONING BY IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT.
THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE SAFETY AND DIGNITY OF OUR COMMUNITY.
When a restaurant must publicly restate the Fourth Amendment before allowing customers through the door, something fundamental in our democracy has gone wrong.
Colorado stepped in because Washington would not. U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson’s ruling is a start – but nowhere near the finish line. We need transparency, and we need it enforced. ICE must be held to the same standards we demand of other law enforcement officers: identification, lawful process, body-worn cameras, documentation, and accountability when force is used – especially against children. Without these safeguards, abuse will continue in the dark, and real people will keep paying the price.
If a 12-year-old can be allegedly groped, if her brother can be shackled hand-to-waist-to-feet, if a family must self-deport to escape U.S. detention – then rights are not abstract ideals. They are being violated.
And they need defenders. Justice will exist only if we insist on it.
This editorial has been updated to meet journalistic standards. The claims of abuse are now preceded by "allegedly" to reflect that the accusations are based on testimony and have not been proven in court. The Herald remains committed to reporting the family's trauma and insisting upon accountability.
