ICE arrests at least 2 in operation targeting Frisco restaurant as immigration enforcement expands in Colorado
At least two workers were arrested this week in a federal immigration operation that targeted a Mexican restaurant in Frisco and sparked protests in the mountain area The workers were detained after U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived at the Hacienda Real restaurant Tuesday immigrant-rights advocates disclosed The operation also targeted a home in nearby Dillon Valley Agents clothing identified them as part of ICE s investigative arm Homeland Safeguard Investigations and they removed computer equipment from the restaurant In a Facebook post Hacienda Real explained it had been working with ICE for several months after the agency received an anonymous call reporting that we had undocumented workers in our restaurant Unfortunately this process led to a broader inspection of the restaurant the business wrote Because its equipment was taken the restaurant is now temporarily closed The operation comes amid an increase in ICE actions across the United States and Colorado including in the state s rural and resort communities Immigration arrests rose statewide throughout the summer and increasingly have resulted in detentions of people with no prior criminal convictions The Denver Post announced not long ago Voces Unidas an advocacy group has documented other ICE operations on the Western Slope and the Vail Daily announced an increase in ICE operations in May in Eagle County which borders Frisco s Summit County ICE has arrested people in Craig and Glenwood Springs so far this year arrest facts show with more detained in Grand Junction all vital increases for those areas compared to last year Alex S nchez the president and CEO of Voces Unidas stated he assumed four people were arrested in this week s Frisco operation though his group had only definitively endorsed two Those individuals are now in the Aurora detention center he commented We cannot hide the fact that there s casualties that families went to bed or tried to go to bed without their family members and we know they were calling us trying to find their loved ones S nchez stated Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons declared in a message that ICE conducted a targeted federal criminal analysis Tuesday He commented his office learned of the situation as it began FitzSimons wrote that ICE s primary purpose Tuesday was to serve search warrants connected to their criminal assessment not to conduct civil immigration enforcement But the action has gained wide notice in the public which includes ski resorts ritzy homes and thousands of operation workers including several immigrant families Tony Byrd the superintendent of the Summit School District informed representatives from U S Sen Michael Bennet s and U S Rep Joe Neguse s offices on Thursday that the ICE operation was terrible and may happen again He stated he longed federal policymakers to stand up and oppose similar efforts in the future The experience we had this week was absolutely brutal for the students and families of this group and we witnessed it live Byrd declared at the beginning of Thursday evening s school board meeting Later in the meeting Byrd commented school attendance dropped late last week when rumors spread of a coming ICE raid On Tuesday the day of this week s operation over students were doing everything they could to go home he mentioned Attendance on Thursday was to lower compared to the district s normal average he noted Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie who represents Frisco mentioned the biggest outcome of ICE s operations would be the amount of fear and suspicion sown in the region Our immigrant public is a critical part of our neighborhood fabric she commented in an interview Thursday They are a part of our workforce Families are part of our school system Our immigrant region attends churches with us and neighborhood events That is what makes Summit County so special and I am deeply concerned with the amount of fear that is part of the outcome of rumors and this raid and the rhetoric that we are hearing at the national level As ICE agents conducted the operation Tuesday local residents shouted at them and stood in front of their vehicles according to video captured by the Summit Daily News One woman can be heard yelling You are separating and harassing You are not craved here In a video posted to social media by Mountain Dreamers restaurant owner Luis Flores thanked the district for its patronage He indicated that his lawyer was in contact with ICE and that we are clean of everything that has been explained Related Articles Inhumane Trump s mass deportations ensnare noncriminal immigrants from all walks of life Judge blocks Trump administration from deporting Guatemalan migrant children CU Regent Wanda James takes on Diana DeGette announcing bid to unseat Denver s long-serving congresswoman South Park delays new episode but not because of Charlie Kirk Trump ICE target police in Chicago other cities including Denver for recruitment in NFL ad It s unclear if the Dillon Valley house and Frisco restaurant were part of the same operation S nchez declared his group has been stated by first-hand onlookers and other parties connected to this matter that the two locations were part of the same effort and that the home is connected to the restaurant A restaurant employee declined to comment when reached by email Thursday and did not respond to a follow-up question about whether workers had been detained FitzSimons the county sheriff wrote in his declaration that ICE had publicly stated that no one was arrested Tuesday On Thursday a sheriff s office spokesman referred questions to ICE and did not respond to a voicemail seeking more information Steve Kotecki ICE s Denver spokesman and regional representatives of the agency did not return a message seeking comment
