Politics
ICE Acting Director Admits Re-Arrests of Released Detainees, Says Practice Has Stopped as Judge Weighs Contempt
A federal judge in Denver is considering contempt proceedings after ICE's acting field office director testified that at least 18 detainees were released and quickly re-arrested over a week at the Aurora GEO facility, a practice he said he ended on November 4.
A federal judge in Denver is deciding whether to hold Immigration and Customs Enforcement in contempt after the acting head of the agency's local field office acknowledged that detainees ordered released by a court were being quickly re-arrested, a practice he said he halted last week.
U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney pressed Nathan Rasper, acting director of ICE's Denver field office, during a Monday hearing over an order to re-arrest immigrants a court had ordered freed from detention. Sweeney called the re-arrests concerning, both for due process and for the fear they instill among immigrant detainees.
Court testimony revealed that at least 18 detainees were released and then quickly re-arrested over about a week at the GEO facility in Aurora. The arrests prompted a series of protests outside the detention center and led to Monday morning's hearing, where demonstrators gathered at the federal courthouse.
Rasper, who became acting director on October 14, testified that beginning October 27 he told his team that detainees subject to release following habeas corpus proceedings could be re-arrested "based on our statutory authority." He said he was under the understanding that some detainees had been arrested without the proper paperwork, so serving them with those warrants after their release would solve the issue.
Rasper said he believed such arrests would not violate court orders but told the judge the practice has stopped, saying he ordered an end to it on November 4.
The American Civil Liberties Union said ICE's actions have a specific aim "where cruelty seems to be the point."
"What we're seeing is instructions from Washington that amount to abuses, and it's happening day in and day out," said Tim Macdonald, legal director for ACLU of Colorado. "With the elevation of Stephen Miller, we should all be concerned that this administration didn't get the message from the midterms and they're going to continue their abusive practices."
Last week, an unnamed Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told a local outlet that ICE complies with lawful court orders and that prohibiting the re-arrests is "nothing short of sabotage." At Monday's hearing, the assistant U.S. attorney quickly distanced himself and his office from that statement, saying they did not know it was being submitted to the press.
Sweeney is now weighing whether contempt proceedings are appropriate. The case has drawn attention to the Aurora facility and to the broader question of how immigration authorities respond when courts order detainees released, a issue with direct consequences for immigrant communities across the Denver metro area.