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ICE, other federal agents now active in mountain towns, stoking fear, stress
Federal agents have been active this week in mountain communities, according to numerous sources, enforcing an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration. That has members of the local Latino community on edge and struggling with logistical and mental health issues.
“We have received reports [Thursday] about the presence of federal government personnel, including ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents, in what appears to be a targeted campaign in our region,” the Eagle County Democrats reported in an email blast Thursday. “We have received videos and photos of activity in Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin counties.”
Locally, the Democrats are reporting ICE activity along Interstate 70 between Gypsum and Edwards. They are urging people to go to the Voces Unidas website for more information, to call (970) 340-8586 to provide information, and to attend a peaceful pop-up protest from 5 to 6 p.m., Friday at the Edwards Roundabout (bring signs, water, stay off inside circle and on sidewalks).
Local authorities say they have not been contacted by the feds and are not working with them to enforce Trump’s mass deportations, which got a $147 billion taxpayer boost by the U.S. House passing a budget reconciliation bill Thursday, including yes votes by all four Colorado Republicans.
Justin Patrick, spokesman for Eagle County – which late last month passed a bilingual resolution of support for immigrants – said in an email: “The county government was not notified and as far as we know they are just rumors [of ICE activity].” He referred a request for further information to the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office.
“We understand that news of potential operations involving federal agencies such as ICE and the DEA [U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency] creates concern and uncertainty within our community,” sheriff’s spokesperson Karina Toscano wrote in an email to RealVail.com.
“While we are aware that these agencies may be present in the area, we want to reassure our community that the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office is not involved in any such operations, nor do we have any information about their plans or activities,” Toscano added.
ICE’s Denver office did not respond to an email request for comment on Thursday.
Democratic state Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, who lives in neighboring Garfield County but first moved from Mexico to Eagle County at a young age, where she lived in various local mobile home parks, now represents a district that includes Pitkin, Garfield and part of Eagle County.
Velasco in the most recently concluded state legislative session was one of the prime sponsors of a bill called “Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status”, or SB25-276. Asked about Trump’s mass deportation agenda and the fear it’s causing in mountain communities, Velasco said her bill, which is still awaiting the signature of Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, is a direct response.
“These attacks on the immigrant community don’t make anyone safer,” Velasco said in a recent phone interview. “It just disrupts our community, people are scared to go to work, scared to take their kids to school. And the consequences of mass deportations would have a catastrophic impact on the state, especially in our rural resort communities that heavily depend on immigrant labor. So, it’s definitely in the statewide interest to clarify and highlight that we all have constitutional rights and those must not be infringed. We’re all humans.”
Velasco went on to describe the bill in more detail: “We are just clarifying and elevating that everyone in the state has constitutional rights, and those must not be violated, and that people should know the policies that hospitals and schools and libraries and childcare centers have when it comes to dealing with law enforcement. So, I think that there’s multiple pieces that we’re trying to address [including] access to health care.”
Vail Health is actively supporting the Latino community, which makes up a third of Eagle County’s population, during these difficult times.
“The Precourt Healing Center is an essential behavioral health resource for individuals navigating challenging periods in their lives,” Vail Health Director of Inpatient Behavioral Health Teresa Haynes wrote in an email last month. “We understand the significant stress that can impact our community, particularly among our Spanish-speaking members. This vibrant community is integral to our local economy and society, and we are dedicated to addressing their specific needs with compassion and care.”
Founding members of the Vail community addressed support for the Latino community in a letter to the editor to the Vail Daily in December. And Eagle County Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney, in a recent interview with RealVail.com following a meeting with parents, said Latinos in Eagle County are “unsettled for sure. The moms wanted to know how we are keeping their kids safe at school.”
David O. Williams
