FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 28, 2025
MEDIA CONTACT: Karen Orona, Communications Manager with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, (303) 489-1809, karen.o@coloradoimmigrant.org
Durango, CO – The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC), Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center, American Friends and Services Committee (AFSC), Southwest Colorado Rapid Response Network, and the Colorado Rapid Response Network (CoRRN) condemn Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for separating a father from his two minor children. The children’s current whereabouts are unknown, and the groups are demanding their immediate release.
On October 27th, ICE detained an asylum-seeking family from Colombia, despite their strong ties to the Durango community of over 18 months and a fully documented, pending asylum case. In a devastating escalation, ICE has now transferred the two minor children to an undisclosed location, severing them from their father. This family has no criminal record, their children attend local schools, and their legal status is confirmed as active by USCIS, with Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center providing extensive case support since December 2024.
“ICE has forcibly separated a family, and now the community does not know where the children are,” said Enrique Orozco-Perez, Co-Executive Director of Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center. “This is a deliberate and cruel tactic to instill fear in our communities. We demand to know where these children have been taken and call for their immediate reunification with their family.”
The situation escalated when community members gathered for a peaceful vigil outside the ICE administrative office where the family was being held. Witnesses report that ICE agents acted with unprovoked aggression.
“Despite our members remaining entirely peaceful, an ICE agent violently punched one of our community members in the face,” said a spokesperson from the Southwest Colorado Rapid Response Network. “This excessive force against peaceful protestors is unacceptable and underscores the brutal tactics ICE is willing to employ.”
The groups are also raising serious questions about the cooperation of local law enforcement after a witness reported that Colorado State Troopers arrived on the scene alongside ICE agents.
“The presence of state troopers with ICE raises alarming questions about the level of local and state cooperation in this operation,” said Gladis Ibarra, Co-Executive Director for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. “We need immediate clarity from state officials on their role in this family’s separation and the violence that followed. The people of Colorado have a right to know if their state is violating its own laws to aid in tearing families apart.”
The coalition is calling for:
- The immediate location and release of the two minor children and their father.
- The immediate reunification of the family.
- A full investigation into the use of excessive force by ICE agents against peaceful protestors.
- A full investigation from Attorney General Phil Weiser on local cooperation with ICE.