The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is challenging a statement put out by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Denver field office, which claimed the sheriff’s office failed to cooperate with federal agents before releasing a man from jail in accordance with Colorado immigration laws.
In a post on Denver ICE’s X account on Wednesday, the agency asked for help locating a 32-year-old man from Honduras who was released from Jefferson County without being handed over to ICE.
Sheriff’s officials responded to this claim, clarifying that they cannot hand over an inmate to any law enforcement agency without a judicially authorized warrant under Colorado law, including ICE.
The man in question was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence and was ordered to be released at 11:52 a.m. on Wednesday. A sheriff’s official informed ICE that the man would be released over the phone, and ICE indicated they would not be picking him up.
The man was released from jail at 2:34 p.m., and ICE did not arrive to collect him as confirmed by the sheriff’s office.
In response to ICE’s post, sheriff’s officials emphasized that they are following Colorado law and cannot provide extra time for ICE to coordinate inmate pickups, as it would be a violation of the law.
Efforts to reach a spokesperson for the Denver ICE field office for comment were unsuccessful at the time of writing.
This incident is not the first time Colorado law enforcement have disputed claims made by the federal agency. In March, when two men escaped from ICE’s Aurora detention center, agency officials stated that local law enforcement was notified immediately, but Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain refuted this claim, stating that authorities were not informed until hours after the escape was discovered.
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