by Jacob Richards with The Revolutionist’s Editorial Collective
Luis Armando Rivas has lived in the United States for twenty-one years, and for the last eighteen, he has called the Roaring Fork Valley home. He is a devoted family man, a father of three, and a man with an eternally optimistic outlook. His family, neighbors, and handyman clients invariably describe him as a good and compassionate person.
Clients describe him as “hard-working,” “honest,” and a “valuable member of our community,” in letters written on his behalf.
Rivas is the person you could call for help, advice, or even a ride home after having too much to drink. “He is super smart—he went to medical school back in Mexico,” said a family member who asked to remain anonymous for fear of ICE retaliation. “He can fix anything, from computers to roofs.”
“We need people like Luis to Make America Great Again,” wrote one of his handyman clients in Basalt.
Around June 1, Rivas mentioned to his family that he had noticed a suspicious gray car without plates seemingly appearing everywhere he went. Over the next few days, he grew increasingly uneasy as the same vehicle followed him throughout the valley—never pulling him over, never speaking, just silently tailing him. On June 3, he noticed the car again—first in Aspen, then later in Glenwood Springs, where he stopped at Walmart to pick up items for his family. At 2:30 p.m., when he walked out of the store, he saw the gray car parked next to his vehicle, along with a Garfield County Sheriff’s SUV.
Two men approached him—one in a Garfield County Sheriff’s deputy uniform, the other in a black polo shirt with “SPEAR” printed on the back. They did not identify themselves but told Rivas, “You are under arrest for immigration violations.” The arrest was captured on video by a bystander and posted to social media, where it has been viewed over 50,000 times. The video shows Luis being handcuffed and placed in the Garfield County Sheriff’s vehicle by the two men.
Though Rivas was taken in a Garfield County Sheriff’s vehicle, he was not driven to the local jail for booking. Instead, the officer drove him past the sheriff’s department, courthouse, jail, and annex office—all the way to the back of The Maverik Adventure Center in De Beque, Colorado and transferred into an ICE vehicle. From there, he was taken to the Grand Junction ICE field office, and then directly to the GEO detention facility in Aurora.
SPEAR is a special crimes interagency law enforcement task force composed of local and federal officers operating in Garfield County. Its lead agency is the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, headed by Lou Vallario. Vallario’s anti-immigrant stance is well documented (see The Revolutionist #10, October 2024). While SPEAR is nominally tasked with drug interdiction and major crimes, it appears to have a wide mandate with little oversight.
“[Rivas] has never been arrested,” said a family member. “Never.” They added he had not received any deportation orders. “They didn’t have a warrant, they never said he was charged with any crime, and they didn’t identify themselves.”
“It was shocking,” the family member said.
Shocking indeed. Colorado law has “repeatedly and consistently set a clear division between our local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement agencies,” said an immigration lawyer that spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Our community’s well being and security depends on our neighbors feeling like they can report domestic violence, seek medical care, enroll their children in school, and trust their information to service providers without fear that any of these actions will lead to immigration enforcement actions. This division is particularly important when the enforcement actions are being taken without regard for due process, without care or regard for the safety of families, and without much consideration for the actual law or status of an individual.”
As of publication, the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office has not released an official statement or responded to requests for comment, or even provided a case number or incident number.
Unfortunately, Luis Rivas’ case is not unique. Just two days after his arrest, ICE detained Carolin Dias Goncalves near Grand Junction, involving yet another interagency task force.
Goncalves was initially pulled over by Mesa County Sheriff’s Investigator Alexander Zwinck. After deciding to issue only a warning for a minor traffic infraction, body camera footage shows Zwinck asking:
“Where are you from? You’ve got a little bit of an accent.”
“I’m from Utah,” Goncalves replied.
“How long have you lived there?”
“About twelve years.”
“Born and raised?”
“No, I was born in… Brazil.”
“Oh, that’s cool,” Zwinck said.
After the stop, Zwinck shared details in the “Highway Hitters” Signal group chat, administered by the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of the Western Colorado Drug Task Force’s interdiction team.
Minutes later, ICE used that information to locate and arrest Goncalves just a few miles down the interstate.
The case drew national media attention. Goncalves, a 19-year-old University of Utah student, and DACA recipient was later released on bond following public outcry and calls for her release by Governor Polis.
However, Polis has not taken steps to investigate or curb local law enforcement’s cooperation with ICE. Though he could direct the Attorney General’s office to investigate these task forces, he has limited his involvement to this one case—ignoring the systemic nature of the issue.
Mesa County Sheriff’s Office has placed Zwinck on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Both the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and the Colorado State Patrol have since exited the Signal chat.
Trooper Sherri Mendez of the Colorado State Patrol told The Revolutionist that CSP does not participate in immigration enforcement and only communicates using the EverTel app, which is not shared with federal agencies. CSP also confirmed it has no group chat ties to SPEAR.
The Grand Junction Police Department, though part of the Western Colorado Drug Task Force, is not on the interdiction team and was not part of the “Highway Hitters” chat. Police Chief Matt Smith emphasized in an email, that the GJPD does not share “any information for immigration enforcement purposes.” He added, “In short—we follow the law.”
“There is some real concern that multi-jurisdictional task forces enable local law enforcement agencies and immigration enforcement agencies to collaborate and circumvent the laws of Colorado to share information, resources, and logistics with immigration enforcement agents. This not only makes our community less safe, it also erodes the ability of local law enforcement to actually protect and serve, and hijacks our community’s resources for political gain,” said an immigration lawyer working in Western Colorado.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is deeply embedded in these task forces. HSI has been recorded across western Colorado and the nation working in tandem with ICE and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents to unlawfully detain individuals.
Earlier this year, after HSI and ERO agents arrested a man outside the Glenwood Springs courthouse, the 9th Judicial District issued an administrative order threatening contempt of court charges if ICE, HSI, or ERO agents continued to operate near the courthouse in violation of state law.
But Colorado’s immigration courts in Denver and Aurora remain outside these protections. ICE now regularly monitors those courthouses, further chilling participation in the legal immigration process.
“People are going to stop showing up to court,” said an immigration attorney. “Then a judge will issue a Deportation Order In Absentia. If you can’t appear, you can’t get status. It’s wild.”
Kevin Figuroa, 18, a resident of Glenwood Springs, is an immigrant trying to follow the law, to immigrate legally.
Kevin Figeroa
In May, Figeroa, was given notice to report to the Grand Junction ICE field office for a check in. He arrived at his appointment on June 17 and was promptly arrested and transported to the GEO Group prison, where he still awaits a hearing to decide his fate.
Ultimately these arrests spread fear within the community, and make people less likely to check-in, and when they don’t check-in, they can be more easily deported for non-compliance.
Goncalves spent fifteen days in GEO custody. In a statement she said, “The past 15 days have been the hardest of my life. I was scared and felt alone. I was placed in a system that treated me like I didn’t matter.” She added, “Over 1,300 people are still in that same nightmare. They are just like me—people who love this country and want to belong.”
Aurora Yadira Mireles Tarrazas, a long-time resident of Ouray and DACA recipient, spent over two months in the GEO facility after ICE—working with Montrose County deputies—arrested her.
Tarrazas was granted a personal recognizance bond by a judge on February 4. She signed the papers and should have been free to go, but Montrose Sheriff Deputies held her until plainclothes ICE agents arrived. Surveillance footage shows the agents handing something small and flat to the deputies, who pocketed it.
Holding inmates for ICE is explicitly illegal under Colorado law. Her attorney, Matthew Lagoe, told the Ouray Plaindealer, “It does appear that not only did they violate the law by calling ICE and reporting to ICE that she was there, but also holding (her) so that ICE had time to show up.”
Tarrazas was eventually granted bond
Goncalves and Tarrazas are some of the lucky ones. Data compiled by Rep. Jason Crow’s office shows the community release rate from GEO is just 8%.
Luis Rivas, however, remains detained. His family says he was ill for weeks upon arrival at GEO. “They don’t provide antibiotics—only Ibuprofen,” said a family member. “Luckily, he’s healthy. I’m sure I would die in that facility. I need insulin to manage my diabetes.”
“These federal operations are not just about law enforcement. They are creating a climate of fear and intimidation in our communities. Residents, including both vulnerable community members and U.S.-born citizens, are feeling increasingly controlled and threatened. This oppressive environment is not what we want for our communities,” said Ricardo Perez, Executive Director of the Hispanic Affairs Project. “Only in nondemocratic regimes do military police forces operate without any restrictions in communities. I witnessed this as a child during the civil war in my homeland, and the same thing is happening here today in Western Colorado,” he added.
“We are seeing more of these test cases in our community because we are in a quote unquote sanctuary state… (ICE) is going after any potential way of getting around these state laws, as we have seen they have been doing these subpoenas and trying to get collaboration wherever they can get it,” said an immigration lawyer working in western Colorado. They added, “When the Trump administration is looking for a potential weak point or a roundabout way to get around Colorado’s laws, someone like Lou Vallario (Garfield County Sheriff) is going to be exactly the kind of person they look for to allow these kinds of tests to be done. We are kind of in a hot seat of creativity, of lack of oversight, and integrity.”
“The people are worried. We get messages every day—asking: ‘Is it safe?’ And we don’t know,” said a member of the ‘Are Saucedo Reporta’ Facebook page, which serves as an information lifeline for the community. They told us that people in the Roaring Fork Valley, where SPEAR and ICE have become interchangeable terms, are losing trust in local law enforcement.
With the recent passage of the “Big Brutal Bill” by the House on July 3, ICE will see its budget increase nearly twentyfold—giving it more funding than the U.S. Marine Corps and placing it among the world’s largest militaries. Due to this, it is likely that ICE presence will become the norm in major population centers like Denver
For months now, ICE and the MAGA regime have been probing Colorado’s legal system for vulnerabilities—and finding them.
Lawrence Pachico, with the Colorado Attorney General’s office, confirmed they’ve opened an investigation into Goncalves’s arrest. But this problem goes far beyond one high-profile case.
More than just inaction, Colorado Governor Jared Polis has been actively trying to aid ICE. Polis ordered Scott Moss, director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, to comply with an April 24th subpoena from ICE, which would likely violate Colorado law.
The subpoena requested the personal information of thirty-five host families that are caring for unaccompanied minors across the state.
Moss sued, and a judge ruled that Moss and his staff cannot be ordered by Polis or anyone else to violate Colorado laws.
Polis is weighing his next move, while members of his own party put him on blast for his acquiescence to ICE and federal authoritarianism.
The rule of law is being tested—and failing.
Now is the time for Colorado’s legal and political institutions to reaffirm our commitment to state law. It is time to prosecute rogue law enforcement officers, task forces, and even Sheriffs who cooperate with ICE in defiance of our statutes.
It’s time for Attorney General Phil Weiser and Governor Jared Polis to find their backbone—and do the job Coloradans elected them to do.
Contact Governor Polis: governorpolis@state.co.us
Contact Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser: ag@coag.gov or email: Phil.Weiser@gmail.com
Report ICE activity to the Colorado Rapid Response Network Hotline: 1-844-864-8341
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Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, Lou Vallario. That’s a Hispanic name. Shouldn’t he also be detained and deported? Just asking.
Si! Afuera con Sr. Vallorio!
We shouldn’t be using state/county/city resources to fund the federal government’s mass deportation plan – at least not without putting it to a vote by the people. I’m horrified by how this administration is carrying out this plan, like the fact that only approx. 6-8% of immigrants in ICE custody have any criminal record for violent crimes. So much for removing the worst of the worst! These are people we want in our community.
What a failed policy, and now we’re supercharging ICE funding while cutting Medicaid, FEMA, SNAP and other social-safety nets. Shame.
So these guys followed this person around for days? Using government resources on a government salary, to pick up a guy who’s been here for 18 years. Most likely paying taxes, at least sales tax for everything that he buys. Working in the community. Helping people. Being a positive member of the community. So how much did this cost to follow him around, too detain him and now to keep him locked up?