U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Flat-screen TVs in the immigration jail?

ICE deportations in Denver set record; see the release here

Every Dog Has Its Day

Would you rather have sex with a basset hound or Dog Chapman?

Vehicular homicide charges against Benny Sitinjak and Jose Hernandez-Castellanos in fatal Aurora street race

Benny Sitinjak. Early yesterday morning, the Aurora Police Department issued information about an apparent street race at the intersection of South Peoria Street and East Yale Avenue in which one of the drivers died. Later in the day, the APD issued mug shots of two men in the incident: Benny Sitin ... More >>

Denver Blogs: ICE, ICE baby

Photo courtesy of the White House"Enough about Afghanistan. What's happening in Aurora?"​Other people in Colorado write blogs, too. Here are three of them. The Colorado Independent's Kate Redding covers protests about the Obama administration's expansion plans for the GEO Group's Aurora Immig ... More >>

ICE, Loveland Police arrest eleven in operation targeting "foreign-born gang members"

Courtesy US Immigration and Customs EnforcementICE men in action.​Amid the uproar stirred by the new Arizona immigration law -- travel bans by Denver Public Schools and the City of Boulder, plus student walkouts and weekend rallies -- US Immigration Customs and Enforcement, known as ICE, conti ... More >>

What's a Little Marriage Fraud Between Amigos?

It's a felony, sure, but in the absence of real immigration reform, some young, assimilated illegal immigrants see it as their best path to citizenship

Asylum Denied: Only a fraction of Mexicans get U.S. asylum

It's a felony, sure, but in the absence of real immigration reform, some young, assimilated illegal immigrants see it as their best path to citizenship

Immigration Center protesters target new Obama policy: See photos of the event here

Full-sized photos below.​While most of us relaxed and had fun on Labor Day, approximately sixty people affiliated with organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee and Comite en Defensa del Pueblo protested immigration policy at Aurora's GEO Detention Center, as they've done si ... More >>

ICE arrests focus on criminal aliens: 78 busts include man convicted of making terrorist threat

​These days, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, emphasizes that it's targeting criminal aliens, not otherwise law-abiding citizens who lack documentation authorizing their U.S. residency. And that's the theme of ICE's latest Colorado busts. Of the 78 people rounded up fr ... More >>

Immigration busts: In fiscal 2010, ICE took 6,617 people from Denver area, 4,447 criminals

​Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is focusing on busting criminal aliens -- like the 78 people recently rounded up statewide. And there's more where they came from. ICE has just released statistics for fiscal 2010, which ended September 30. The arrestee total for the Denver area of re ... More >>

Jose Nevarez-Coronado, charged in traffic death of Yvonne Frye, here legally despite Post claim

Large photo below.​Yvonne Frye, 62, a much-loved professor at the Community College of Denver, was killed last week in a crash for which twenty-year-old Jose Nevarez-Coronado has been charged with vehicular homicide. Nevarez-Coronado was allegedly drunk -- but not in the country illegally, as ... More >>

Opas Sinprasong pleads guilty to running his Siamese Plate restaurants like slave ships

Daily CameraOpas Sinprasong.​When it came to taking advantage of his employees, Opas Sinprasong, who owned several Boulder-area Siamese Plate restaurants, appears to have been an expert. Sinprasong pleaded guilty to harboring illegal aliens and failing to pay taxes -- offenses likely to result ... More >>

Opas Sinprasong, Siamese Plate owner, pleads guilty to treating workers like slave labor

NaRaYa has replaced Siamese Plate on the Go​I was at Lotus of Siam, one of Lori Midson's favorite restaurants in the world (and she's right -- too bad it's in Las Vegas), eating and catching up on my Westword reading, when I found this report by Michael Roberts on a Thai restaurant group much ... More >>

Ron Rocha, Regis coach, part of 20-kilos-a-week cocaine-ring bust: See mug shots & drug photos

Large photos below.​Last month, Ron Rocha, a volunteer baseball coach for Regis University, was on the losing end of an intra-squad matchup dubbed the Fall World Series. But he suffered an even greater defeat yesterday, when he was among 35 people named by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the bus ... More >>

Tom Tancredo & "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano keep talking in debate videos

Gustavo Arellano.​Update: The immigration debate continues, two days after the November 16 face-off that pitted Tom Tancrtedo against "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano. "Gustavo seems to speak out of both sides of his mouth," one commenter suggests. "Of course Tancredo is a racist al ... More >>

Road to nowhere: The men who are caught transporting illegal immigrants rarely pay the price

Gustavo Arellano.​Update: The immigration debate continues, two days after the November 16 face-off that pitted Tom Tancrtedo against "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano. "Gustavo seems to speak out of both sides of his mouth," one commenter suggests. "Of course Tancredo is a racist al ... More >>

Human smuggling: Defense attorneys question whether law is too harsh on alleged smugglers

​ This week's cover story, "Disappearing Act," examines the difficulties of enforcing Colorado's anti-human smuggling law, which was passed in 2006. Though the law was well-intentioned, prosecuting the alleged smugglers has proven tough. As such, many smugglers end up taking plea deals that re ... More >>

Reader: If ICE raids Tom Tancredo-Gustavo Arellano debate, Tancredo might get deported

Tom Tancredo.​We're busy preparing for tomorrow's debate between Tom Tancredo and "Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano -- and so are many readers requesting tickets. (Click on the link above for more info.) One, however, worries that Immigration and Customs Enforcement might attend the e ... More >>

ACLU files claim against ICE for harassing U.S. citizens en route to Amway convention

​Today, the American Civil Liberties Union announced a formal administrative complaint against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over an April incident during which dozens of Spanish speakers aboard a Denver charter bus were detained under suspicion of human smuggling. Turns out the ri ... More >>

Reader: ICE is racist because agency targets Spanish speakers, ignores whites with no papers

​Some interesting comments on our post about the ACLU filing a complaint against Immigration and Customs Enforcement for detaining a busload of Spanish speakers heading to an Amway Convention. Here are two of the most pointed.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement's latest roundup: 85 "criminal aliens" busted by ICE

​Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to emphasize that it's focusing on arresting so-called criminal aliens -- and it's lassoed plenty in these parts of late. In September, ICE busted 78 people -- and of the 6,617 folks grabbed in the Denver area during fiscal 2010, 4,447 were said t ... More >>

Border lines: Tom Tancredo and Gustavo Arellano, opponents on immigration and allies on legalization

​Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to emphasize that it's focusing on arresting so-called criminal aliens -- and it's lassoed plenty in these parts of late. In September, ICE busted 78 people -- and of the 6,617 folks grabbed in the Denver area during fiscal 2010, 4,447 were said t ... More >>

Kevin Lundberg on CO Republican immigration summit: Current policies have no teeth

Kevin Lundberg.​Speaking moments before the start of today's immigration summit at the State Capitol, Senator Kevin Lundberg, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, portrays the session as an attempt to tackle an important issue in a post-election environment that will give him and his fe ... More >>

Cyber Monday ripoffs: See 7 Colorado website domains seized for selling counterfeit goods

​Overwhelmed by the number of sites offering Cyber Monday deals? Well, now there are 82 of them, including seven in Colorado, you don't need to visit -- because their domains have been seized for allegedly selling counterfeit or copyrighted goods. See the list and get more info from the Justic ... More >>

U.S. Government seizes piracy websites

​Things just keep getting worse for media pirates. In the last year, we've seen Google tackle music blogs, Limewire go the way of the dodo, and Pirate Bay's appeal thwarted. Now the U.S. government is getting involved. Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seized domains from To ... More >>

Azimdzhon Mazhidov, 15 others from Russia, Tajikistan charged with ripping off $300,000

Large pics below.​Azimdzhon Mazhidov is accused of getting rich with a little help from his friends. He's among sixteen defendants from Russia and Tajikistan charged with stealing more than $300,000 from assorted banks. But they didn't use guns. Instead, according to an indictment on view belo ... More >>

ICE seizes torrent websites in Wack-a-mole-esque operation

Kicking ass and seizing websites​When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) isn't prowling our borders for drug traffickers, it's prowling our digital borders and shutting down torrent domains that facilitate the piracy of copyrighted material. But seizing a domain name is a lot like ... More >>

Secure Communities: Forum tonight at Auraria to oppose controversial immigration program

​ The invitation is alarming: "Come find out what nasty things Colorado Governor Ritter is contemplating doing BEHIND closed doors." The nasty thing it's referring to is Secure Communities, a federal program that would check the fingerprints of anyone arrested in Colorado against immigration r ... More >>

Karina Vargas: Luis Guzman-Rincon (illegal immigrant?) jailed in Aurora Central shooting

Karina Vargas.​Update: The Aurora Police Department has released the name of the man arrested in the Monday shooting of Aurora Central student Karina Vargas. He's Luis Guzman-Rincon, nineteen, who's likely in this country illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has put a hold on Guzman ... More >>

Secure Communities: Colorado signs on to fingerprint check for illegal immigrants

www.ice.gov​Colorado is the latest state to join Secure Communities, a federal program that checks fingerprints of people booked into local jails against a national database of illegal immigrants.

How the music industry will change in 2011

​In the past decade, the music industry has seen a lot of changes, but it has struggled to keep pace with technology, piracy and consumer demands. Already this year we've started to see a few more changes take shape, from crackdowns on piracy websites, a resurgence of interest in the currently ... More >>

Colorado immigration partnership with feds wrongly focusing on non-criminals, study says

​ A program that delegates federal immigration enforcement powers to local officers is not netting as many serious criminals in Colorado as in other states, says a study released today by the Migration Policy Institute.

ICE investigation at Chipotle Mexican Grill escalates

​Chipotle Mexican Grill, our homegrown burrito chain, is about to make the big leagues: It will replace Novell in the S&P 500 sometime soon. But amidst last week's celebrations over that milestone came less happy news: The company is now under criminal investigation by the U.S. government, whi ... More >>

Denver Police Dept. immigration memo doesn't mean this is a sanctury city, spokesman says

​KHOW's Peter Boyles has obtained an April 25 memo from Denver Police Chief Gerald Whitman that reads in part, "EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, DENVER POLICE OFFICERS SHALL NO LONGER ADD A CHARGE OF OR WRITE 'REFER TO IMMIGRATION' ON ARREST OR CHARGING DOCUMENTS." But while Boyles sees the directive as ... More >>

Dennis Sieving, driving instructor, accused of passing drivers who failed or didn't take test

Dennis Sieving.​Here's a frightening thought: Around 1,500 drivers who didn't pass, or didn't even take, a driving test may have been on Colorado roads for months. That's the accusation against Dennis Sieving, 53, who's been indicted by a federal grand jury for male fraud and bribery. And tho ... More >>

Immigration and Customs Enforcement renews promise to focus on deporting serious criminals

​ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has renewed its promise to focus on serious criminals for detention and deportation. "A new policy directs ICE officers and attorneys to use appropriate discretion to make sure victims and witnesses to crimes are not put into deportation proceedings, ... More >>

Immigration and Customs Enforcement busts 81 "criminal aliens" in Colorado, Wyoming

​Immigration and Customs Enforcement's announcement of over 2,400 arrests -- 81 of them in Colorado and Wyoming -- stresses that ICE is focusing on rounding up criminal aliens. This emphasis makes sense given mounting evidence here and nationwide that assorted authorities are going well beyon ... More >>

Immigration: Advocate decries Father's Day raid on Glenwood Springs' Strawberry Days fest

​Glenwood Springs' Strawberry Days festival has been an area staple for more than a century, and this year's edition featured train rides, a pirate-coloring contest, a pie-eating challenge and a search for a "Glenwood Idol," among many other scheduled events. But one happening wasn't announced ... More >>

Reader: Illegal entry and residency doesn't justify busting immigrants at Father's Day fest

​Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents say they're focusing on criminal aliens -- and anti-immigration commenters point out that being in the U.S. without documentation is a crime. But not one big enough to justify arrests at Strawberry Days in Glenwood Springs on Father's Day, one reader ... More >>

Lesbian couple fights deportation: Will judge allow undocumented partner to stay in U.S.?

​ In May, we told the stories of two GLBT immigrants living in Colorado and seeking asylum to stay in the United States forever. Their stories of discrimination and abuse in their home countries tested the limits of asylum law. On Friday, another local GLBT immigrant, a lesbian woman named Mrs ... More >>

Alvaro Agon, Carbondale cop, criticized for dual role as school police officer, former ICE liaison

​ In June, we told you about two men who were questioned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a carnival connected with Glenwood Springs' Strawberry Days festival. One of those men, Julio Alvarez-Cortez, has now filed a lawsuit against the officers involved, including Carbondale cop Alvar ... More >>

ACLU urges schools to adopt policy banning school police officers from working with ICE

​ The American Civil Liberties Union has jumped in on the debate simmering in Carbondale and Glenwood Springs over whether school resource officers should be allowed to collaborate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Immigration review pilot program that may close low-priority cases coming to Denver

​ Local immigration advocates are cautiously optimistic about a pilot project to review open immigration cases in Denver and close those deemed to be of low priority. The program, described in this New York Times story, comes on the heels of a memo from the head of Immigration and Customs Enfo ... More >>

Immigration review pilot program begins, immigrants and activists cautiously optimistic

Gerardo Noriega.​Laura Lichter, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, describes prosecutorial discretion in the context of a police officer witnessing a bank robbery and jay-walking at the same time and knowing to stop the bank robber first. This is essentially the p ... More >>

Gerardo Noriega receives administrative closure on deportation case, now waits in limbo

Gerardo Noriega.​Gerardo Noriega, a 21-year-old Smoky Hill High School graduate, now knows he won't be deported to Mexico in the near future, but his future is still in limbo. As part of the immigration review pilot program currently underway in Denver, Noriega was granted administrative closu ... More >>

Jared Polis wants investigation into abuse of LGBT immigrants in detention

Jared Polis.​Colorado Congressman Jared Polis has called for a government investigation into alleged abuse suffered by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender immigrants detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "Here we have people who are at their most vulnerable -- many without ... More >>

Lesbian couple in limbo as immigration pilot program officially ends today

Sujey and Violeta.​ Violeta Pando couldn't sleep last night. After all, today is the last for a six-week pilot program to review the deportation cases of all non-detained immigrants in Baltimore and Denver -- including the case of her wife, Sujey Pando. "The hours that I did sleep, which were ... More >>

Immigration: About 15 percent of Denver case subjects allowed to stay in U.S. after review

Gerardo Noriega.​ Preliminary numbers show that about 15 percent of the 7,923 immigrants whose cases were reviewed as part of a Department of Homeland Security pilot project in Denver will be allowed to stay in the country, says Laura Lichter, the president-elect of the American Immigration La ... More >>

Tahlia Perea busted for smuggling 104 pounds of marijuana in quinceanera plaques

Big photos below.​A quinceanara is an important rite of passage for fifteen-year-old young women. But for Tahlia Perea, a passage she allegedly attempted at age eighteen proved problematic. She was busted for trying to cross the Mexico-U.S. border with more than a hundred pounds of marijuana ... More >>