Colorado Judge Summons ICE Director Over Re-Arrests After Court Releases

A federal judge in Colorado has ordered ICE's Denver field office director to appear in court Monday to explain why detainees she ordered released were taken right back into custody, Fox News reported.

U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney, a Biden appointee, earlier ordered the government to identify every Colorado case since Oct. 27 in which ICE re-detained someone within 12 hours of a court-ordered release. The government identified 14 petitioners but did not give the precise timing of the re-arrests. In a Nov. 5 order, Sweeney demanded exact dates and times, due by 8 a.m. Monday, before Field Office Director Nathan Rasper takes the stand.

At a Nov. 4 hearing, Sweeney questioned whether ICE was getting around judicial orders by briefly releasing detainees and then immediately re-arresting them. In one case, Ramon Quintero Alvarez was released Oct. 27 and immediately taken back into custody. Government attorneys said in a Nov. 3 filing that they would not submit a brief defending his continued detention. Sweeney ordered him released and barred re-detention unless the government shows at a bond hearing, by clear and convincing evidence, that he is a flight risk or danger to the community.

DHS says ICE followed the law. "When an illegal alien is ordered released by a judge, that does not immunize the alien from immigration enforcement for all time," the department said, adding that ICE "may seek to re-arrest the alien in a way that complies with the judicial decision." It called the idea that ICE cannot do so "nothing short of sabotage."

Sweeney has not said whether she will pursue contempt proceedings. Other Colorado federal judges, including Nina Wang and S. Kato Crews, are handling similar disputes. The administration's position is a straightforward one: a release order resolves the detention question in front of the judge, not whether the government may ever enforce immigration law against someone here illegally. Expect this fight to move up the ladder fast.