A multi-day confrontation between federal immigration officials and Durango locals escalated on Wednesday, with Gov. Jared Polis condemning the tactics of federal agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement defending its approach — and detentions — on the ground there.
“The federal government’s lack of transparency about its immigration actions in Durango and in the free state of Colorado remains extremely maddening,” Polis said in a post on social media.
On Monday, ICE detained a father taking two of his children to school in the small town in southwestern Colorado. That same day, Durango Police said they asked if they could help reunite the children with the mother and were told by federal authorities that it was no longer an option.
The following day, Durango Police said they received a call that one of the children was in distress and tried to do a welfare check at the ICE facility in Durango. However, they were not allowed inside the federal building.
ICE on Wednesday identified the man as Fernando Jaramillo-Solano, 45, a Colombian who entered the country on Dec. 22, 2024, near San Diego, California. Immigrant advocates say he and his family have pending, documented asylum claims and have ties to the community.
“I am deeply concerned about the circumstances of the detainment and movement of Fernando Jaramillo-Solano and two minor children,” Polis said in his social media statement. “ICE did not inform us about this operation. The federal government should prioritize apprehending and prosecuting dangerous criminals, no matter where they come from, and keep our communities safe instead of snatching up children and breaking up families.”
After Jaramillo-Solano was taken into custody, demonstrators on Monday and Tuesday flooded the street in front of the ICE building in Durango.
State law enforcement officials were called to help respond to the protest and said the demonstrators were blocking the ICE building’s exit and had bolted an access gate closed.
In addition, there were reports and a video of an elderly woman demonstrating in front of the ICE facility being shoved to the ground by a federal agent.
Durango Police said they asked the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to investigate that incident. But CBI has not confirmed whether they will, saying only they are looking into it. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was also asked to investigate, particularly since it happened on federal property. A spokesperson did not respond to requests for information because of the federal government shutdown.
ICE on Wednesday said the protesters’ actions in Durango “do nothing to serve the detainees they claim to support or the community, instead delaying lawful processes and creating unnecessary risks for everyone involved … What these protestors hope to achieve by chaining the gates of a federally leased property is unclear.”
The federal agency also claimed actions like these have led to a “1,000 percent” increase in assaults on ICE officers. ICE has never furnished any evidence that that skyrocketing number is true in Colorado or nationally, according to an investigation by CPR News.
Meanwhile, ICE also said that Jaramillo-Solano was transferred to the Dilley ICE Processing Center in Texas pending immigration proceedings. They did not indicate what happened to the two children. Dilley is one of the few detention centers across the country that can accommodate families and children. Durango City Council has announced a special meeting on Thursday to discuss the incident. The police chief has said he’s been disappointed in ICE’s lack of cooperation with local officials.
