{"id":15885,"date":"2025-10-30T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mother-of-children-taken-by-ice-feels-like-she-is-drowning-choking-after-arrests\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:52:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:52:07","slug":"mother-of-children-taken-by-ice-feels-like-she-is-drowning-choking-after-arrests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mother-of-children-taken-by-ice-feels-like-she-is-drowning-choking-after-arrests\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother of children taken by ICE feels like she is \u2018drowning,\u2019 \u2018choking\u2019 after arrests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Protesters
Protesters link arms as they face off with agents trying to remove them outside an ICE facility Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A 15-year-old boy and his father were \u201cbeaten, handcuffed and forced to sign documents\u201d after being arrested Monday in Durango by federal immigration officers, the boy\u2019s mother told an immigrant services nonprofit.<\/p>\n

Estela Pati\u00f1o said she spoke with her son, Kewin Daniel Pati\u00f1o Bustamante, in a phone call shortly after 10 p.m. Monday \u2013 the last time she has heard from him as of Wednesday morning, according to Compa\u00f1eros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center.<\/p>\n

She said she has not spoken with her 12-year-old daughter, Jana Michel Jaramillo Pati\u00f1o, since the arrest.<\/p>\n

In an open letter to Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, Compa\u00f1eros identified the father as Fernando Jaramillo Solano.<\/p>\n

Durango Police Department officers attempted a welfare check on Kewin after receiving a report of possible abuse by federal agents but were denied entry to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office on Tuesday, the city said in a news release.<\/p>\n

Compa\u00f1eros expressed concern that Jana was being held in the custody of only men, calling it \u201cnot just terrible\u201d but \u201cinhumane\u201d and a violation of \u201cevery prevailing human right for children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200bThese children are just children; they bear NO responsibility of any kind,\u201d Compa\u00f1eros said in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n

The group described Solano as an \u201chonest and hardworking individual\u201d who works more than 80 hours a week at two cleaning companies and a hotel.<\/p>\n

Solano has no criminal record, nor do his wife or children, and the family is seeking asylum in the United States, according to Compa\u00f1eros.<\/p>\n

The family, originally from Colombia, has lived and worked in Colorado for more than 18 months, and their asylum case remains open and active, according to Compa\u00f1eros.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s destroyed her life\u2019<\/div>\n

\"Immigration
Immigration advocates were turned away from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office Tuesday in Durango after two children arrested Monday morning had been held there for more than 24 hours. (Christian Burney\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In an interview Wednesday with The Durango Herald<\/em>, Pati\u00f1o said she feels like she is \u201cdrowning\u201d and \u201cchoking.\u201d She said the arrests by immigration agents felt like an attack on her entire experience in the United States.<\/p>\n

She spoke in Spanish, with Liza Tregillus of the Apoyo Immigrant Partner Team providing English translation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s destroyed her life,\u201d Tregillus said of the arrests.<\/p>\n

Pati\u00f1o said her family came to the U.S. seeking protection. In Colombia, she said, they lived under threat of being killed. Now, she feels the same persecution \u2013 this time with her children as targets.<\/p>\n

Pati\u00f1o began to cry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s reminding me of the worst year I spent in Colombia,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel attacked. Complete loss of safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the arrests of her partner and children triggered memories of relatives who were attacked in Colombia.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be in a place where she thought she could be helped and have safety and asylum, instead she is experiencing the same feelings all over again,\u201d Tregillus said.<\/p>\n

Protesters converge on ICE field office to defend detained family<\/div>\n

\"A
A protester leads others in a chant during outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Tuesday in Durango. (Josh Stephenson\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Kewin, Jana and Solano were arrested Monday morning on their way to school and taken to the ICE field office in Durango\u2019s Bodo Industrial Park. Their arrest sparked a protest lasting more than 24 hours.<\/p>\n

By noon Tuesday, more than 200 people had gathered outside the field office\u2019s barbed-wire fence.<\/p>\n

Protest signs read \u201cResist fascism,\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re the bad guys, go away ICE,\u201d and \u201cLet them out!\u201d<\/p>\n

Protesters chanted \u201cFree the kids \u2013 and the dad,\u201d strummed guitars, pounded drums and sang.<\/p>\n

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