Local Sheriff deputies suspected of doing ICE enforcement in Garfield County

When Luis Armando Rivas Martinez thought he was being followed by a silver car, he told his family, but tried to brush it off as nothing.

But on Tuesday June 3, while walking out of the Wal-Mart in Glenwood Springs, the silver car was back, and this time, joined by two other vehicles identified as belonging to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.

The uniformed Garfield County Sheriff Deputy asked Luis to confirm his name, and then an officer with a black vest and the label SPEAR, handcuffed him. The man in plain clothes who had been driving the silver vehicle told him he was facing immigration charges, but they all refused to answer any of Luis’s questions. 

Luis told his family that after being detained in the parking lot, officers drove him to the back of a gas station in De Beque where he was transferred to the custody of an ICE agent that was already waiting there.

“In my country that’s called a kidnapping,” said the family member who reported the case to Voces Unidas. She’s helping Luis share his story because they feel the community needs to be aware of what’s happening. “It’s basically a state-sponsored kidnapping.”

Voces Unidas received multiple reports of the incident via phone to our immigration hotline the day it occurred, including as it was still happening. We reviewed multiple cellphone videos recorded of the interaction outside the Wal-Mart, which confirmed those details of the incident.

It’s yet another unfortunate example of possible collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE officials. Although it happened before the most recent iteration of the law that took effect in July, it still speaks to a pattern of behavior by the Garfield County Sheriff's Office and possibly other local law enforcement agencies.

The SPEAR taskforce is a law enforcement team based in Garfield County that touts “collaborating with DEA, the US Marshal’s Service and HSI (Homeland Security Investigations)” with the idea that they are catching some of the area’s most serious criminals.  But Luis wasn’t facing any charges and hasn’t been accused of any crimes.

Local outlet, The Revolutionist, reports that SPEAR Task Force Officer Nate Lagiglia, is one officer involved in the detainment of Luis, and cites a case report obtained through open records written by Lagiglia. In the report, Lagiglia states that he helped a special agent with the arrest after the agent told police the man “was wanted for federal charges.” The report details the arrest at the Wal-Mart, and the transport to the back of the gas station, which Lagiglia wrote that he helped with because of “officer-safety.”

It’s been more than 11 years since Luis had any other run-ins with police, and he has no warrants. Voces Unidas also checked public records and found no warrants for Luis.  

So what federal judicial order was Deputy Lagiglia enforcing?

Now, Luis, who was a medical doctor by trade in Mexico before moving to the U.S. in the early 2000s, is being held in Aurora’s immigration detention center.

Luis did handyman work while in Colorado and has long-time clients who are now dismayed by the news. Some have written letters to the immigration judges in support of him staying in the U.S., and asking for him to be released. They all speak well of him and call him an honest, and kind, hard worker.

Although the Trump administration continues to claim that they are deporting criminals, reports have shown that most of the people being detained are not facing any criminal charges. 

Luis has so far been denied any bond. 

Now he has a court hearing scheduled for Aug. 19 where he is hoping to ask the judge to allow him to stay in this country since one reason he left Mexico was out of fear for his safety. 

In the meantime, Luis is passing the time in detention by teaching a couple of his fellow detainees how to read and write. He’s not one to complain, his family member said, even though he’s already been sick since being in detention.

Voces Unidas is concerned that local law enforcement is not following state laws that prohibit collaboration with ICE. We are concerned that by collaborating with ICE, and using tactics that are not transparent, these agencies are contributing to breaking the community’s trust in local government. 

We shared this case with the Colorado Attorney General during his visit to our office on June 26 and hope that his office is investigating. We also plan to file a formal complaint for what we see as a pattern of violations.