Immigration agents detained a man at the federal courthouse on Stout Street on Tuesday morning, separating him from his family and sparking an outcry from local advocates.
The man was arrested while attending a court hearing with his wife and young child, advocates said.
“I'm part of a court watch team and we were here. We realized that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] was here,” said Arnie Carter, an advocate who was standing outside the Byron Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse.
“They went into the women's bathroom and they actually threw the wife of the man that they detained on the floor. Their child was crying. They were just bawling and screaming and ICE, they detained a man and disappeared him down the hallway. The wife and the child are extremely, extremely traumatized.”
Later, a CPR News reporter witnessed the woman and child leaving the courthouse in tears. Agents also temporarily detained another volunteer court observer, Carter said, but advocates declined to identify the person, who was released afterward.
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has had observers at the court since May 27.
As a small crowd gathered at the courthouse on Tuesday, court officials locked the doors to the building, barring observers and other members of the public from getting inside, Carter said.
“Our volunteers doing court accompaniment and court watch here downtown witnessed a pretty intense detainment of a father that seemingly was fairly violent, even though the judge had approved an appeal for him,” said Jordan Garcia with AFSC.
What we know about the man detained
The man who was detained was with his wife and eight-year-old son, Garcia confirmed. Garcia could not provide further information about the case, such as the man’s name. It was one of multiple arrests this week around courthouses, Garcia said.
Originally, ICE said it would target unlawfully present immigrants who had committed crimes, but that strategy has now strayed into picking up anyone they can, with an emphasis on those in the country for less than two years, as CPR News reported earlier. Those people can be placed in expedited removal proceedings.
It appeared to be the ninth arrest at the court in recent weeks, according to AFSC.
A shifting immigration enforcement strategy
In some cases, federal authorities have used a new strategy: Government attorneys are dismissing immigration cases, making it easier for federal agents to arrest them soon after, the Associated Press reported.
That’s what happened late last month, when agents detained a family at the federal courthouse.
In previous administrations, including President Donald Trump’s first term, officials avoided sending immigration agents to criminal and immigration courthouses for immigration enforcement actions — part of a bigger directive to preserve safe or sensitive spaces, like hospitals and schools, where immigrants without legal status can go without fear.
On Inauguration Day, though, Trump rescinded that policy, which means ICE agents are free to go to courthouses for immigration enforcement actions. Colorado has a state law that prohibits immigration agents from detaining people in or near state courthouses.
ICE officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
