Over the past year, Latino advocacy organization Voces Unidas de las Montañas has recorded a slew of civil rights complaints in Garfield County. According to a recent online post published by the Voces Unidas Action Fund, over the past year people have been “disappearing” from Garfield County jail to later appear in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody at its detention facility in Aurora.
The group asserts that nine of the 10 instances it investigated suggest that when individuals were “released” from the county jail, ICE agents were allowed to enter the jail and take them into custody before they walked free. Alex Sánchez, president and CEO of Voces Unidas, believes such actions are against state law.
“ It wasn’t as if ICE agents were outside the county jail and they tackled people as they exited a public building on the sidewalk,” Sánchez said. “We have documented, based on testimony from impacted families and individuals [and] public records, that ICE agents are allowed to come into the jail.” He continued, “We don’t know what happens inside that jail, but certainly ICE agents are in secure jail facilities and individuals are never allowed to be free … We believe that’s inconsistent with state law.”
Colorado law has restrictions on local and state law enforcement agencies collaborating with the Department of Homeland Security on immigration enforcement. Specifically, Senate Bill 25-276 prohibits jails from delaying an inmate’s release to give ICE an opportunity to apprehend them, and House Bill 19-1124 prohibits state and local law enforcement from arresting or holding someone in custody solely because federal immigration authorities have issued a civil immigration detainer request. However, House Bill 19-1124 does permit police to assist federal authorities in the execution of a warrant that’s signed by a judge.
One case detailed by Voces Unidas, though not arising out of the jail, involves Luis Armando Rivas Martinez, a 60-year-old who, as reported by Voces, had not had a run-in with local law enforcement for at least 11 years. He was arrested in the Walmart parking lot in Glenwood Springs in June 2025. Video, posted by Voces, shows two officers, one in a Garfield County deputy uniform and another donning that of a Special Problem Enforcement and Response (SPEAR) officer, a multi-agency unit affiliated with the sheriff’s department. The SPEAR officer, Nate LaGiglia, further assisted a federal agent at their request by transporting Rivas Martinez to a gas station in DeBeque to turn him over to Homeland Security custody.
Voces conducted a public records search but did not find any warrant for Rivas Martinez, and suspects this was another violation of the law. A report written by LaGiglia indicates that the federal officer said Rivas Martinez was wanted on federal charges, but no warrant is mentioned or included in records obtained by The Sopris Sun.
According to the Garfield County Associate Courthouse in Rifle, the county’s only case for Rivas Martinez was closed in 2016. However, a court spokesperson said that a warrant could have originated from another jurisdiction.
”He had not committed any federal crimes. [The] two deputies were acting as ICE agents, supporting and assisting civil ICE enforcement,” Sánchez said, “which, in Colorado, we believe is against the law.”
Following a detention period at the Aurora ICE facility, Rivas Martinez has since been deported to Mexico.
Voces Unidas is urging Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser to investigate the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office for possible violations of state laws. State Senate Bill 20-217 gives the Colorado Attorney General the authority to investigate local law enforcement suspected of civil rights violations. The Attorney General’s Office declines to comment on ongoing investigations.
Sánchez said long-term harm inflicted on the immigrant and Latino communities in Garfield county could be immeasurable.
“Unfortunately, Garfield County government and [the] Garfield County sheriff and his office have undermined decades and decades of goodwill and work as a community. And now because of their actions members of my community may not call 911,” Sanchez said, “may not respond to the calls of district attorneys … may not report domestic violence. Certainly, any encounter we have with the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office will be treated as potentially hostile. That’s the consequence that this sheriff cannot see.”
The Sopris Sun and KDNK reached out to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office regarding allegations of inmates being turned over to ICE within the jail upon their supposed release. Records Manager Kiyvon Nye responded that they “[do] not track individuals or other agency involvement after the individual has bonded or otherwise leaves the custody of the Garfield County Jail,” adding, “no records exist to quantify” the claim. The Glenwood Springs ICE field office did not respond as of press time.