Advocates and attorneys in the Roaring Fork Valley say scammers posing as legal representatives are exploiting immigrants navigating the increasingly aggressive federal enforcement landscape.
“I have seen and talked to victims of these scams,” Alex Sanchez, executive director of Voces Unidas de las Montañas, told The Sopris Sun .
Voces Unidas, an organization fighting for equality for Latinos in Colorado, has opened 60 civil rights violation investigations, some involving fraud or abuse, according to Sanchez.
The Valley’s higher-than-average immigrant population means residents are more likely to encounter these scams. According to U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data aggregated by Data USA, about 14% of Garfield County residents and 16% of Eagle County residents are foreign-born; both figures are above the Colorado average of 9.6%.
Heightened enforcement
Since Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, immigration enforcement has increased nationwide. According to a December 2025 report from the American Immigration Council, the number of people held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention rose nearly 75% in 2025, increasing from roughly 40,000 at the start of the year to 66,000 by early December.
According to Colorado Public Radio, a Western Slope judge in April 2025 ordered ICE to stop civil immigration enforcement at courthouses in Garfield, Pitkin and Rio Blanco counties, after courthouse workers reported that ICE had detained between five and 10 people in or around the Garfield County Courthouse since January.
In May 2025, the Vail Daily reported confirmed ICE activity across Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin counties. According to the Aspen Daily News in October 2025, ICE operates a holdroom facility in Glenwood Springs where detainees are held before transfer to larger facilities.
Jennifer Smith, an immigration attorney who’s been practicing in the Valley since 2007, said the enforcement climate has changed how immigrants approach their cases.
“In our current administration, the goal is to detain and remove people that don’t have status,” Smith said.
Debbie Bruell, co-founder of Mountain Action Indivisible, said her group has heard reports of ICE operations locally.
“Previously, they hadn’t been doing like big raids in our area,” Bruell said. “But now I just heard there was a raid in Vail, so who knows what they can do, what they are going to do. They’re doing whatever they want.”
Forms of fraud
Immigration scams take different forms. Some involve people falsely claiming to be attorneys. According to the Federal Trade Commission, one scam takes advantage of the term “notario.” A notario is a highly trained legal professional in Latin America, but only a document witness in the United States.
Smith said most scams she encounters are committed by non-attorneys who claim to have worked for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or the Department of Homeland Security, promising case approvals with their “special contacts.”
Social media has also played a role in this exploitation. Some scammers on TikTok even stage fake immigration hearings, Smith said. While an experienced attorney can spot these fakes, some people can’t, especially if the documents used are in English rather than their native language.
Sanchez also said individuals with experience in tax preparation have illegally expanded into immigration services without proper licensing in some cases.
He added that not all problems involve intentional fraud. Some issues come from confusion about the difference between an attorney providing general information versus actually representing a client.
Regardless of the form a specific scam takes, victims lose money and time in these situations. In the worst scenarios, they submit fraudulent applications that create additional legal problems, according to Smith.
Warning signs
Some warning signs that legal aid might be a scam include pressure to sign documents without time to understand them, a refusal to answer questions and not receiving copies of documents.
“Anytime someone files something with immigration, you should have a complete copy of that as a client,” Smith said. “If you sign a piece of paper, make sure you don’t leave that office without a copy of what you just signed.”
Smith also cautioned against promises that sound too good to be true and wiring money to strangers. She recommended asking attorneys where they are licensed, how long they have practiced and whether they have handled similar cases. Colorado maintains an online database of licensed attorneys through its attorney regulation office.
Community response
For immigrants who believe they have been scammed, one solution might be to call Voces Unidas’ 24/7 hotline at 970-340-8586. The organization investigates civil rights violations, but also connects victims with free legal consultations and helps file complaints with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Voces Unidas also maintains a legal defense fund for Western Slope residents caught up in immigration enforcement.
Also in the Valley, Mountain Action Indivisible has organized Know Your Rights workshops and shared resources with businesses to prepare for potential ICE visits.
Smith, who has practiced immigration law for over 25 years, said the political climate has fundamentally changed how she advises clients. When counseling clients on their legal options, strategies she might have recommended in the past now carry significant risk of detention, forcing her to have different conversations with clients about whether certain actions are worth pursuing.
Other resources include Alpine Legal Services in Glenwood Springs, the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Mountain Dreamers in Summit County and the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network.