Aurora Detention Center: ICE Re-arrests Judges' Releases
Federal agents waited outside the facility to grab 17 men ordered free, prompting judges to demand explanations and threaten contempt.
By Alina Marshall ·
Seventeen federal court orders for release were effectively ignored at the Aurora immigration detention center between Oct. 27 and Nov. 3.
Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement intercepted detainees as they exited the facility. Some men were driven to an ICE field office in Centennial and returned to Aurora for re-arrest. One court filing noted a man released at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday was back in custody by 11:31.
The practice stems from senior ICE directives. Nicole Black, an ICE supervisor, testified that agents were told to re-arrest released detainees with some form of criminality. She also testified that agents were ordered to place GPS ankle monitors on released individuals unless a judge explicitly forbade it. The government argued that re-arrests were permissible as long as the initial release order did not explicitly ban them. However, lawyers from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado told courts they would not defend the legality of the renewed detentions or the unauthorized monitoring.
Detainees described the re-arrests as physical and confusing. Alex, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said agents elbowed him in the leg and struck him across the jaw during his return to the facility. He was held in his original housing unit after the incident. Yvenson Lebrun, a 27-year-old Haitian man from Florida, recounted being escorted to the front door by an agent who told him to have a good day. As he stepped through the threshold, agents on both sides rushed him and handcuffed his hands. Lebrun had been detained for 14 months before his initial release order.
Legal advocates and judges reacted sharply to the events. Tim Macdonald, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, called the practice an assault on due process. He described the treatment as defying common sense and decency. In court, judges questioned the government’s strategy. Judge S. Kato Crews ordered the release of one man and likened the re-arrest to gamesmanship. Judge Charlotte Sweeney summoned Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Soler and Black to explain the conduct. Sweeney stated the government was usurping judicial resources and bordering on professional misconduct. She set a hearing for Monday and ordered another senior ICE official to appear.
Judge Nina Wang held separate hearings Thursday and Friday regarding two other immigrants who received GPS monitors after her release orders. She said the monitoring violated her instructions and threatened to hold the government in contempt. A representative for the Department of Homeland Security told The Denver Post that an immigrant without legal status is not immune from enforcement just because a judge ordered their release. The agency stated it could re-arrest people in ways that comply with court orders. A representative for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
The re-arrests have altered the mood among detainees preparing for release. Lebrun, who filed an emergency motion to force his release, waited four hours for a decision from Judge Gordon Gallagher. He remained in the holding area until he was placed on a plane to Florida. Lebrun said that when people are released, there is typically applause. Now, the silence reflects uncertainty about whether the release is permanent. He returned to his two children in Florida, where both cried upon his arrival.
