Utah college student arrested by ICE in Grand Junction granted bail

A -year-old Utah college learner arrested by federal immigration agents after a Mesa County sheriff s deputy shared information about her in a law enforcement group chat has been granted bail her attorney explained Wednesday Caroline Dias Goncalves was pulled over for a traffic stop on Interstate near Fruita on June because she was following a tractor-trailer too closely the Mesa County Sheriff s Office stated The deputy let her go with a warning but shared information about the encounter in an encrypted Signal group chat between local and federal law enforcement that was used for drug enforcement Federal agents arrested Dias Goncalves a short time later in Grand Junction and are detaining her at the U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Aurora Her family did not know where she was for two days according to reporting from the Salt Lake Tribune Dias Goncalves who attends the University of Utah came to the U S from Brazil with her family when she was and overstayed a tourist visa She has a pending asylum application according to the Tribune Colorado law enforcement is barred from cooperating with civil immigration enforcement under state law and the sheriff s office declared the agency did not know the information would be used for immigration activity Related Articles ICE takes custody of Spanish-language journalist arrested at Georgia protest Boulder attack suspect s motivations debated in court as feds press hate-crime charge Colorado won t say if it will turn over Medicaid material that feds could use to find immigrants Feds used group chat with Colorado sheriff to target Utah pupil for immigration arrest authorities say NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested at immigration court Sheriff s administrators have refused to say what information the deputy shared about Dias Goncalves but explained the agency is no longer a part of the Signal chat Dias Goncalves was granted bail by an immigration judge on Wednesday advocacy group TheDream US disclosed in a news release The organization did not provide details about the terms of her bail or when she will be circulated but commented she will be distributed in the coming days and petitioned for privacy for Dias Goncalves and her family A spokesperson for TheDream US could not without delay be reached for comment Her arrest and detention should not have happened in the first place her attorney Jon Hyman from the Denver firm Peak Justice Group stated in a message She has no criminal record was not shown a warrant and as the Mesa County Sheriff s office has since revealed her arrest was only attributable to improper coordination between local law enforcement and ICE he explained Investigations should continue to ensure that other young immigrants in Colorado do not have to go through the same harrowing experiences Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day