Colorado sheriff files lawsuit against Gov. Polis, attorney general after ICE detainment following traffic stop
The sheriff of Mesa County in Western Colorado has filed a counter-lawsuit against Gov. Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainment of a 19-year-old Utah college student following a traffic stop earlier this summer. She was detained by ICE in Aurora for 15 days.
Mesa County Sheriff Todd Rowell, Mesa County Undersheriff Matthew King, and Mesa County Sheriff's Office Investigations and Special Teams Captain Curtis Brammer are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Rowell et al. v. Weiser et al., which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on Aug. 7. They claim state immigration law is too vague.
Lawrence Pacheco, spokesman for the Colorado Attorney General's Office, said in a statement Wednesday to CBS Colorado, "Colorado law is clear that law enforcement does law enforcement and not federal civil immigration enforcement. It's unfortunate that Mesa County filed this lawsuit. The Department of Law has a responsibility to follow facts and defend and enforce state law. We'll continue to take this duty seriously."
On June 5, Deputy Alexander Zwinck pulled over Caroline Dias Goncalves for allegedly following another vehicle too closely, and he let her go with a warning. Zwinck reportedly shared the personal information of Dias Goncalves, who is originally from Brazil, in a Signal chat, which included ICE officials, leading to her later detainment by ICE agents.
A few weeks ago, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit against a Mesa County sheriff's deputy, who Weiser claims led federal immigration officers to a woman allegedly in the U.S. on an expired visa after a traffic stop. That deputy was allegedly using an encrypted Signal chat with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
Dias Goncalves, a nursing student living in Utah, was detained for more than 2 weeks by ICE and then released. According to Weiser, who is running for governor, she described the experience as "the worst experience of her life."
The Mesa County Sheriff's Office has since removed itself from Signal.
The lawsuit filed in July by Weiser asserts that Zwinck unlawfully asked about, and then shared, the driver's personal identifying information with ICE. Colorado law places limits on the information local law enforcement officials can provide to federal immigration agents.
The Board of Mesa County Commissioners unanimously voted on Aug. 5 to approve the authorization to file the lawsuit against Polis and Weiser to "protect the constitutional rights of Mesa County employees and to approve the use of public funds for legal representation."
The lawsuit claims the state statutes recently enacted are confusing and that they come with penalties that are having a chilling effect on law enforcement.
After the initial lawsuit was filed by Weiser, Rowell apologized for the incident and asked that the lawsuit be dismissed.
Weiser is also investigating the Mesa County Sheriff's Office's alleged "coordination" with ICE, which he says violates a state law that bars state and local governments and agencies from assisting ICE with civil immigration enforcement. The U.S. Department of Justice is currently suing the state over these policies.
