The sheriff of Mesa County has filed a counter-lawsuit against Gov. Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser following the detention of a 19-year-old Utah college student by Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this summer. The student was held in Aurora for 15 days after a traffic stop.
Sheriff Todd Rowell, Undersheriff Matthew King, and Investigations and Special Teams Captain Curtis Brammer are plaintiffs in the case Rowell et al. v. Weiser et al., filed Aug. 7 in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. They argue that Colorado’s immigration law is too vague.
The case stems from a June 5 traffic stop, when Deputy Alexander Zwinck pulled over Caroline Dias Goncalves, originally from Brazil, for allegedly following too closely. He let her go with a warning but reportedly shared her personal information in an encrypted Signal chat that included ICE officials, leading to her later detention.
Colorado Attorney General’s Office spokesman Lawrence Pacheco said Wednesday, “Colorado law is clear that law enforcement does law enforcement and not federal civil immigration enforcement. It’s unfortunate that Mesa County filed this lawsuit. The Department of Law has a responsibility to follow facts and defend and enforce state law. We’ll continue to take this duty seriously.”
A few weeks before the counter-suit, Weiser filed his own lawsuit against Zwinck, accusing him of unlawfully sharing personal information with ICE in violation of state law, which restricts local law enforcement from assisting with civil immigration enforcement.
Dias Goncalves, a nursing student living in Utah, described her detention as “the worst experience of her life.” She has since been released.
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office has stopped using Signal. On Aug. 5, the Board of Mesa County Commissioners unanimously approved filing the lawsuit to “protect the constitutional rights of Mesa County employees” and to authorize public funds for their legal defense.
Weiser is also investigating the sheriff’s office’s alleged coordination with ICE. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice is suing Colorado over state policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
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Katie is a senior who has been on staff for three years. Her favorite type of stories to write is reviews and features. Katie’s favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry.
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