DENVER — Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) arrested 42 people from six different countries across Colorado and Wyoming during several days of targeted enforcement, according to the Denver Field Office of the ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
The enforcement began Sunday, Sept. 22 and ended on Wednesday, Sept. 25, ICE said.
"Many were convicted of crimes; there were some that had just been charged with a crime," said acting Field Office Director John Fabbricatore, ERO Denver, at a news conference Thursday.
They had criminal convictions ranging from assault, domestic violence and sexual assault, to drug charges and driving while intoxicated (DWI), according to a release from ICE.
Others had final orders for deportation, Fabbricatore said. None of those arrested have been deported, but some could be deported within the next days, according to ICE.
Of those arrested, 36 were from Mexico and two were from Guatemala. The others were from Kenya, Brazil, El Salvador and Honduras, a release from ICE says.
Fabbricatore noted at the news conference that four people suspected of being in the country illegally were detained by local enforcement on various charges, but those agencies declined ICE detainers, and they were released from custody.
Adrian Adalberto Salmeron-Quiterio, who was previously arrested in El Paso County, and Jose Alejandro Lopez-Gutierrez who was previously arrested in Boulder County, were both taken into custody during the targeted enforcement.
Lopez-Gutierrez, 56, entered the US illegally in 2010, according to ICE, and was arrested for felony sexual assault on a child in May 2019 and taken to the Boulder County Jail. He was released from custody in Boulder and taken into custody by ICE on Sept. 23.
Salmeron-Quiterio, 28, illegally entered the US in March 2010, according to ICE. In July 2018, ICE lodged a detainer with the El Paso County Jail after his arrest for kidnapping, robbery and assault. He was released on Aug. 2, 2018, and taken into custody by ICE on Sept. 22, 2019.
"We're not asking them to be immigration officers," Fabbricatore said. "We are asking them to be part of a law enforcement strategy in which we are able to get criminal aliens off the street."
Miguel Noe Martinez-Castaneda, who was arrested in Denver, and Jose Franciso Martinez-Calzada, who was arrested in Boulder County, remain at large. Anyone with information about either man should call the ICE tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.
During targeted enforcement operations, ICE frequently encounters other people who are in the country illegally. They're evaluated on a case-by-case basis and could be subject to arrest, according to ICE.
ICE has been at the center of several protests in the Denver area recently. Last week, activists that included the Denver Communists group and Abolish ICE gathered at a community center off East Bellewood Drive in Aurora before marching through nearby neighborhoods.
They targeted the home of an immigration facility director.
Last Saturday, groups both against and in support of ICE held events in Aurora and Denver.
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