A federal judge appointed by former President Biden has ordered the head of ICE’s Denver field office to appear in court Monday. The hearing will address concerns that immigration officials may have violated release orders by taking people back into custody immediately, including in at least one case outside a detention center.
Nathan Rasper was summoned as part of an inquiry into 14 people who were re-arrested after leaving immigration detention. The Department of Homeland Security says ICE followed valid court orders and argues that a release order does not prevent officials from pursuing immigration enforcement later.
“When an illegal alien is ordered released by a judge, that does not immunize the alien from immigration enforcement for all time,” DHS said. The department added that ICE can re-arrest someone if it does so in a way that complies with the court’s ruling, and called suggestions otherwise “nothing short of sabotage.”
The inquiry follows a Nov. 5 order from U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney. An earlier ruling had required the government to identify every Colorado case since Oct. 27 in which ICE took someone back into custody within 12 hours of a court-ordered release. Officials identified 14 people, but did not specify when the releases and re-arrests happened.
Sweeney directed the government to provide exact dates and times for those cases and to identify anyone else who was detained immediately after a court-ordered release.
The added reporting requirements came after a Nov. 4 hearing. Sweeney questioned whether ICE was getting around court orders by briefly releasing detainees and then promptly taking them back into custody. She ordered Rasper to attend a follow-up hearing Monday and explain the agency’s practices.
The case partly centers on Ramon Quintero Alvarez. A government filing says he was released from immigration detention on Oct. 27 and then immediately taken back into custody by ICE.
In a Nov. 3 filing, government attorneys said they would not submit a legal brief defending the lawfulness of Alvarez’s continued detention.
Sweeney held a hearing the following day. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Soler and Kevin Traskos attended, along with ICE Assistant Field Office Director Nichole Black, who gave sworn testimony about Alvarez’s re-arrest.
At the hearing, Sweeney ordered Alvarez released and barred immigration authorities from detaining him again unless the government showed, by clear and convincing evidence at a bond hearing, that he was a flight risk or posed a danger to the community.
The government must submit the requested information by 8 a.m. Monday, ahead of Rasper’s appearance later that morning. The proceedings may clarify whether ICE has complied with court-ordered releases. Sweeney has not said whether she will consider contempt proceedings.
The dispute comes amid similar legal challenges in Colorado. Other federal judges appointed by Biden, including U.S. District Judges Nina Wang and S. Kato Crews, have handled cases involving immigration detention and court-ordered releases.
