GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado — Federal immigration officials in Colorado improperly tapped information gleaned from a “communication group” meant to help with drug investigations for assistance in detaining a University of Utah student.
Mesa County, Colorado, Sheriff’s Office officials investigated the matter following the June 5 detention of Caroline Dias Goncalves, 19, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials near Grand Junction, Colorado. Dias Goncalves, who is from Brazil and has lived in Utah since she was 7, was subsequently placed in an immigration detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, where she was being held at least as of last Friday, KSL-TV reported.
While Dias Goncalves’ Colorado attorney didn’t immediately respond to queries Tuesday seeking comment, a Mesa County Sheriff’s Office press release from Monday sheds light on the circumstances surrounding her arrest. It also sheds light on the range of sources federal officials are tapping in tracking immigrants.
Dias Goncalves — who has a pending asylum claim with immigration officials — was initially stopped and received a warning from a Mesa County Sheriff’s Office official for following a semitractor-trailer too closely. Shortly thereafter, immigration agents pulled her over and detained her.
“There’s a gap there — how was it that immigration officials learned of her presence at that time, at that place, and were able to take her into custody?” immigration attorney Jonathan Show, who’s not representing Dias Goncalves, asked in an interview with KSL-TV last week.
The new Mesa County Sheriff’s Office information offers answers, saying immigration officials were tipped off to Dias Goncalves by information in the “communication group,” which included Mesa County Sheriff’s Office officials and federal agents. Per Colorado law, Mesa County Sheriff’s Office officials don’t probe migratory status during the normal course of their dealings with the public.
Mesa County sheriff’s officials launched an “administration investigation” after Dias Goncalves’ arrest, determining that federal officials used “material collected for drug interdiction efforts to extrapolate immigration information for the purposes of ICE enforcement,” reads Monday’s press release. “This use of information is contradictory to Colorado law and was initially intended for the purpose of reducing illegal drug trafficking in Colorado. Unfortunately, it resulted in the later contact between ICE and Miss Dias Goncalves.”
Representatives from Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t immediately respond to a query seeking comment Tuesday afternoon. Mesa County Sheriff’s Office officials, though, seem miffed.
“We would like to reiterate that we were unaware that the communication group was used for anything other than drug interdiction efforts and that we have since removed all Mesa County Sheriff’s Office members from the communication group. We will continue our coordination on drug interdiction efforts with our state and federal and state partners within Colorado law,” reads Monday’s statement.
Dias Goncalves was driving to Denver when detained. In comments to KSL-TV, her lawyer, Jonathan Hyman, raised questions about the circumstances surrounding her detention. “This is unusual and borders unconstitutional action. … No warrant for her arrest was provided, and ICE detained her without requesting identification,” he said.
Contributing: Garna Mejia