ICE “Routinely” Made Unlawful Warrantless Arrests in Colorado, Federal Judge Finds

A federal judge in Denver on Tuesday found that federal immigration officers have “routinely” made warrantless arrests in Colorado in violation of federal statutes, ordering the Trump administration to halt the practice and take steps to prove that it’s complying with the law.

The partial injunction granted by Judge R. Brooke Jackson of the U.S. District Court of Colorado followed a lawsuit filed last month by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado on behalf of four plaintiffs who alleged they were subjected to unlawful immigration arrests. Federal law requires immigration officers making a warrantless arrest to show probable cause that the individual “is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained” for their arrest.

In a 66-page order, Jackson wrote that the plaintiffs had shown the defendants in the case — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other top immigration officials — “likely have a policy, pattern, and/or practice of violating these sections by effecting warrantless arrests without individualized probable cause of flight risk.”

The four plaintiffs in the case are Caroline Dias Goncalves, a nineteen-year-old Utah nursing student who spent fifteen days in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Aurora after a traffic stop in Mesa County; Refugio Ramirez Ovando, a 43-year-old man taken into custody in Grand Junction in an arrest that agents later admitted was a case of mistaken identity; and two other men identified only by their initials, J.S.T. and G.R.R.

Jackson’s injunction grants four of the six measures of relief sought by ACLU’s lawsuit, including the termination of ankle monitoring and other conditions of release for the plaintiffs. He ordered that officers making warrantless arrests must “consider the totality of the circumstances” when determining flight risk.

“Mere presence within the United States in violation of United States immigration law is not, by itself, sufficient to conclude that a person is likely to escape before a warrant for arrest can be obtained,” Jackson said.

The injunction further requires immigration officers to make extensive documentation for each warrantless arrest, including “the specific, particularized facts supporting the conclusion that the person was likely to escape before a warrant could be obtained,” and to make that documentation available for regular inspection by the plaintiffs and the court.

Jackson’s ruling also granted the plaintiffs’ request for provisional class-action status, extending protections to all individuals “who have been arrested or will be arrested” unlawfully in Colorado since January 20, 2025.

In his second term, President Donald Trump has pledged to carry out the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” aiming to remove all of the estimated 12 million immigrants in the country without permanent legal status, regardless of how long they have been in the country, the legal status of their family members or whether they have criminal records.

Jackson declined to order two other measures sought by the ACLU, which would have required immigration enforcement agencies to conduct training on warrantless arrest procedures and regularly provide documentation that the training was taking place.

“However, should compliance with the Order prove elusive, plaintiffs may renew this request,” he wrote.

Chase Woodruff, a former Westword staffer, is a senior reporter for Colorado Newsline, part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Follow Colorado Newsline here.