Colorado AG sues deputy for aiding ICE in immigration arrests
- In June 2025, a Mesa County deputy allegedly shared personal information of a nursing student with ICE during a traffic stop.
- Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit against the deputy for violating Colorado's law on cooperation with immigration enforcement.
- This incident highlights potential systemic issues within local law enforcement's compliance with state immigration directives.
In June 2025, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit against Mesa County deputy Alexander Zwinck for allegedly colluding with federal immigration agents to detain a nursing student from Brazil named Caroline Dias Goncalves, who was living in the U.S. on an expired visa. Zwinck reportedly shared the student's personal information, including her driver's license details, with ICE during a multi-agency drug interdiction task force meeting through an encrypted chat service. After being informed of the student's immigration status, Zwinck indicated to ICE agents which direction she was headed, enabling her arrest following a brief traffic stop. This incident raises serious questions regarding the relationship between local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration enforcement, as well as compliance with state laws that prohibit law enforcement from assisting in immigration matters without probable cause of a civil offense. Weiser is also probing whether this behavior is part of a broader pattern, as other officers in the task force may have engaged in similar sharing of information regarding immigration status during their enforcement duties. Zwinck allegedly continued to share information with ICE after the first incident, culminating in further violations of the state's directive against cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The lawsuit filed by Weiser aims to reassert Colorado's commitment to protecting individuals from undue immigration action prompted by local law enforcement. Weiser, emphasizing the importance of the law he cited, expressed that adherence to this prohibition is not optional and is crucial in maintaining trust within communities. The Mesa County Sheriff's Office has stated that they are conducting their administrative investigation into the incident and have removed personnel from the communication group used for these discussions, although they plan to continue working with federal agencies in drug interdiction efforts within state laws.