Judge rips ICE for nabbing nursing student without a warrant

DENVER (CN) — A federal judge weighing whether to enjoin Immigration and Customs Enforcement from carrying out warrantless arrests against immigrants in Colorado questioned the need to detain a Utah nursing student in June.

“We’re targeting criminals, we’re targeting terrorists — we’re not targeting the young lady going to the University of Utah with a pending asylum case,” said Senior U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson.

Caroline Dias Goncalves was detained for more than two weeks after being pulled over by a local sheriff’s deputy for trailing too closely to a tractor trailer while driving through Colorado to visit a friend. Shortly after being released with a warning, the 19-year-old student was pulled over by ICE down the road.

Goncalves and three other named plaintiffs filed a class action against U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Oct. 9, challenging the government’s practice of carrying out warrantless arrests against immigrants without first assessing if they had violated an immigration law or posed a flight risk.

“The fact is they never should have been picked up in the first place because there was no inquiry into their likelihood of escaping,” said Jackson, a Barack Obama appointee.

Colorado is home to 169,000 immigrants without legal status — roughly 3% of the state population. In the complaint, Goncalves claims ICE agents increased warrantless arrests against immigrants to meet increased detention quotas set by the Trump administration, aiming to detain 3,000 people daily.

“ICE has the power to arrest, ICE has the power to enforce the law — it should follow it,” said attorney Kenzo Kawanabe, who represents the plaintiff class.

On the second day of testimony, immigration attorney and scholar Elizabeth Jordan took the stand to describe two of her clients recently subjected to deportation following warrantless arrests.

“I don’t think a warrant would have been possible in these circumstances where they didn’t know anything about him prior to arresting him,” Jordan said of one client. Another client was arrested at the apartment building where he lived after federal agents blew up his door with a flash-bang explosive.

“There was less of this kind of ICE encounter happening on the street in 2024,” said Jordan referring to warrantless arrests. “Now these types of encounters have since become the norm.”

In denying the immigrants’ motion to introduce other declarations from immigration attorneys, Jackson said he found that warrantless arrests were being carried out and not by rogue agents.

“I’ve seen enough evidence to determine these are not isolated incidents, that this is a pattern and practice,” Jackson said.

The government’s sole witness, Gregory Davies, an assistant field officer for ICE’s Denver office, said agents were justified to take immigrants into custody if they thought the person was lying or if they stopped answering questions.

“In this day and age, officer safety becomes an issue,” Davies said. “Being on scene too long causes other people to show up. Protesters show up. Bad actors show up, so we need to conduct consensual encounters very quickly.”

In closing, U.S. Attorney Brad Leneis argued that the immigrant plaintiffs failed to meet their burden for an injunction since they were at risk of being rearrested.

“We believe that for each of the plaintiffs there is sufficient evidence to support their detainment,” Leneis added.

Though he did not indicate how he would decide the case, Jackson said he was also considering certifying the proposed class as well.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Jackson promised a decision “as soon as we can.”

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