A federal judge in Denver has ordered ICE’s local field office director, Nathan Rasper, to appear in court Monday to answer questions about whether the agency circumvented judicial release orders by re-arresting detainees almost immediately after they were set free.
U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney’s Nov. 5 order covers 14 people who were taken back into ICE custody after being released under court orders. In at least one documented case, agents re-arrested a detainee outside the detention facility itself.
The case at the center of the inquiry involves Ramon Quintero Alvarez, who was released from immigration detention on Oct. 27 and immediately taken back into custody by ICE, according to a government court filing. On Nov. 3, federal attorneys told the court they would not file a brief defending the legality of his continued detention.
That concession prompted Sweeney to call a hearing on Nov. 4, where Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Soler and Kevin Traskos appeared alongside ICE Assistant Field Office Director Nichole Black, who testified under oath about Alvarez’s re-arrest. Sweeney ordered Alvarez released again and barred ICE from detaining him a second time unless the government could show, by clear and convincing evidence at a bond hearing, that he poses a flight risk or danger to the community.
At that same hearing, Sweeney questioned whether ICE was using brief releases as a loophole to immediately re-detain people without going through the courts, and she ordered Rasper to appear personally on Monday to explain the agency’s practices.
Her Nov. 5 order follows an earlier ruling directing the government to identify every Colorado case since Oct. 27 in which ICE re-detained someone within 12 hours of a court-ordered release. Officials came back with the list of 14 petitioners but did not give exact timing on the re-arrests. Sweeney is now demanding the precise dates and times of each release and re-arrest, along with any other cases where someone was immediately re-detained after a court ordered their release. That information is due by 8 a.m. Monday, just ahead of Rasper’s scheduled appearance.
The Department of Homeland Security says ICE has done nothing wrong. A judicial release order, the agency argues, does not grant permanent protection from immigration enforcement.
