Controversial tactics employed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were the center of Indivisible Durango’s regular meeting on Saturday at the Durango Public Library, where La Plata County Sheriff Sean Smith addressed residents’ concerns about immigration law enforcement.
He referenced recent reports of immigration officers searching for individuals at the La Plata County Courthouse, dismissed by court officials, and said the 6th Judicial District is complicated.
“Years ago, we pushed to have one of the only combined local, state, federal courthouses in the country. So we actually have a U.S. federal court in our courthouse,” he said.
He reiterated what Jeffrey Wilson, 6th Judicial District Court chief judge, said in a statement to The Durango Herald last week. The agent was attending a federal court matter related to a criminal fentanyl case. He could have been getting a warrant on a criminal matter signed by a federal judge, for example.
The situation is complicated because some federal agents are playing dual roles. He said immigration violations are typically civil offenses subject to administrative laws, not criminal offenses subject to criminal law.
Agents involved in Enforcement and Removal Operations, or ERO, are the agents people think of when ICE detentions and arrests are reported, he said.
ICE performs enforcement and removal. Homeland Security Investigations, another branch of ICE under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, used to focus on criminal activities with an international component – cartels, for example – but HSI’s breadth of enforcement has been expanded to include enforcement and removal, muddying the waters, he said.
Colorado law prohibits civil arrests in and on the premises of courthouses. The law also requires officers to identify themselves and report why they are there, Smith said.
The presence of immigration officers in the courthouse stokes fear, even though an agent could be at the courthouse for a matter unrelated to civil enforcement altogether.
“That is stoking that big word that we're all talking about: fear,” Smith said.
Enrique Orozco-Perez, co-executive director of Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center, made a similar point in a written statement posted on social media following the story about immigration officers being seen at the courthouse.
“We acknowledge your clarification and the court’s position that the agents were present for unrelated federal proceedings,” he said. “However, we remain deeply concerned about what we have documented and the broader implications for immigrant safety and trust in our public institutions.”
Orozco-Perez said the same agents seen at the courthouse had previously been seen in plainclothes and masks pursuing detentions of suspected undocumented immigrants without warrants; observed surveilling, questioning and detaining immigrants; and the agents’ behavior at the courthouse – “positioning themselves at exits, masked faces, avoidance of identifying themselves” – is incongruent with courthouse protocol.
He also said the dual federal and state jurisdiction at the courthouse doesn’t invalidate state law prohibiting civil detentions at courthouses.
Michael Dougherty, candidate for Colorado attorney general, released a statement last week responding to concerns of La Plata County residents regarding possible ICE activity at the courthouse.
“In these scary times, it is essential that each one of us stands up and fights for our communities. The key is knowing what rights and protections exist under the rule of law,” he said. “That’s the purpose of these Know Your Rights trainings – to arm people with the knowledge and information they need at this especially critical time. For immigrants, community members, and employers, this information is essential.”
On Saturday, Smith encouraged residents to familiarize themselves with their rights. He said residents risk being charged with obstruction of justice or similar charges if they interfere with immigration agents during a stop.
If immigration officers don’t identify themselves, record them, he said.
“If those officers are not identifying themselves, then they’re not doing what they’re required to do legally, and what we need is evidence to prove that’s not happening,” he said.
Smith said he filed a complaint about one HSI officer who detained a suspected undocumented immigrant in Bayfield on July 2.
In a recording, the HSI agent said, “You should love America, not Mexico.”
Smith did not elaborate on the nature of his complaint. He did not immediately respond to a request for more information on Tuesday.
cburney@durangoherald.com
