The City of Glenwood Springs was expected to formally begin enforcement action this week against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility located on the far west end of Midland Avenue.

The action is based on evidence presented to and confirmed by City officials in recent weeks that the facility in the Midland Center at 100 Midland Ave. has on several occasions held detainees for longer than the 12-hour limit spelled out in a special-use permit that was issued in 2003.

City Attorney Karl Hanlon explained at the regular March 19 City Council meeting that, once a formal Notice of Violation is issued, it triggers a City review of the special-use permit. Ultimately, the matter could end up before the state and/or federal courts and could take years to reach a final judgment, he said.

For that reason, Hanlon warned Council members to avoid making any comments or engaging with the public in ways that could jeopardize the City’s legal position.

“My goal here is to have the most defensible decision possible,” he said, adding that there would be no Council discussion or decisions made at that night’s meeting.

“I am asking you not to engage, so that we can produce the cleanest process possible and the most defensible outcomes we possibly can,” he said.

That said, after reviewing information presented to the City by several members of the public that came from data collected through federal Freedom of Information requests via the third-party Deportation Data Project, it does appear there have been multiple violations of the 12-hour hold rule, counter to the terms and conditions of the ICE facility’s permit, Hanlon said.

Because it was the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission that first heard and approved the permit request 23 years ago, that body is scheduled to hold a public review hearing at 6pm on Tuesday, April 28.

Any decision rendered by P&Z can be appealed to City Council within seven days, and another public hearing would be held on the “next available” Council agenda.

Public comments would be taken as part of the official record at both hearings, Hanlon said.

From there, any party can then file an appeal in Colorado District Court. If it were to be appealed to the state courts, it’s possible the federal government may ask that the case be directly dealt with in the federal courts, he said.

“This is a grind,” Hanlon forewarned, much to the chagrin of several members of the public who again showed up at the March 19 meeting to comment on the City’s dealings with ICE and other related topics.

Some of the dozen people who spoke said they want the City to take immediate enforcement action, including “red tagging” the detention center and/or condemning the section of the larger commercial plaza where it operates, rather than dragging things out through a hearing process.

Doing so could protect the City from being caught up in a potential human rights violation and the legal liability that could come with that, some warned.

SPEAR questioned
Aside from the ICE facility concerns, several of those who commented renewed calls for the City to halt data collection and police information sharing through its public surveillance camera system, and to end the Glenwood Springs Police Department’s relationship with the inter-agency Special Problems Enforcement and Response (SPEAR) task force.

SPEAR was initiated by the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office in 2022 as a “major crimes” unit that local police departments can join, as a means to share information that could lead to broader investigations and arrests. It merged the former Two Rivers Drug Enforcement Team (TRIDENT) that had been operating since 1994, and the Threat Assessment Group (TAG) that came about in 2008 to monitor and act on gang involvement in Garfield County. 

SPEAR encompasses all types of crime that often cross jurisdictional boundaries, such as drug, human trafficking, and auto theft rings, according to an explanation on the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office website.

The Glenwood Springs Police Department formally signed on in July of last year, but apparently without City Council approval.

How inter-agency police information is used and possibly shared with federal immigration enforcement is a major concern, and could have a chilling effect for people reporting legitimate crimes, said Glenwood Springs resident Hannah Saggau.

“You are creating an environment where undocumented people are afraid to call on law enforcement even when they are in danger,” she said. “It’s a moral issue, but it’s also a liability issue for the City.”

Later in the meeting, Council member David Townsley asked about the Police Department’s cooperation with SPEAR. Hanlon said staff plans to provide background and other information about that at a future meeting.

In other business
After two items were continued until the April 2 meeting, including a presentation by the City Charter Commission and consideration of a minor site and architectural plan for 210 Eighth Street, the only other action item on the agenda was a second reading of the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code. It was approved 6-0, with Councilor Sumner Schachter absent.