{"id":15925,"date":"2025-10-27T17:31:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T23:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/protest-erupts-after-ice-reportedly-detains-durango-students-parent\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:52:10","slug":"protest-erupts-after-ice-reportedly-detains-durango-students-parent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/protest-erupts-after-ice-reportedly-detains-durango-students-parent\/","title":{"rendered":"Protest erupts after ICE reportedly detains Durango students, parent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Protesters
Protesters gathered Monday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Bodo Industrial Park in Durango to protest the detainment of two minors and one adult. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Dozens of protesters gathered Monday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango after reports spread that federal agents detained two minors and a parent on their way to school.<\/p>\n

The minors are believed to be Durango School District students, and the adult is their parent, according to a representative from Compa\u00f1eros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center, who asked not to be identified by name.<\/p>\n

All three were taken to the ICE field office in Bodo Industrial Park.<\/p>\n

The Compa\u00f1eros official said she has worked with the family on an active asylum case since December 2024.<\/p>\n

A work permit request was submitted in September and denied in early October. However, the Compa\u00f1eros official received an email Monday from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services saying the denial was an error and the case remains active.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a strong asylum case,\u201d the Compa\u00f1eros employee said. \u201c(It meets) all the requirements and criteria (needed).\u201d<\/p>\n

The advocate said she showed the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services email to a field office employee and was told the family would be released if the case could be confirmed as active.<\/p>\n

\"Protesters
Protesters gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Monday in Bodo Industrial Park in Durango to protest the detainment of two minors and one adult. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Community members, legal advocates and representatives from Compa\u00f1eros and the immigrant rights group Apoyo began to gather around 8 a.m. Monday across the street from the ICE field office where the family was held.<\/p>\n

By Monday afternoon, the number had grown to about 100 people. Durango Police Department patrolled the scene.<\/p>\n

Several protesters said the children were brought to the Center in handcuffs.<\/p>\n

\"Durango
Durango resident Lisa Owens, left, joined protesters outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Monday in Bodo Industrial Park in Durango to protest the detainment of two minors and one adult by ICE agents Monday morning. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m here to support these people that are literally being kidnapped off our streets,\u201d said community member and protester Lisa Owens. \u201cI am absolutely appalled that they (detained) two young children on their way to school \u2013 which is where they belong \u2013 and that they have them in this ICE building. It breaks my heart what\u2019s happening. \u2026 They must be terrified \u2013 traumatized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local family law attorney Angie Buchanan went to the Center to support the detained family.<\/p>\n

\"Protesters
Protesters gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Monday in Bodo Industrial Park in Durango to protest the detainment of two minors and one adult. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Buchanan said an ICE official told her any request to speak with the children must go through a juvenile coordinator with ICE. But when she called the number provided, she was told no such office or position exists.<\/p>\n

According to the National Immigration Forum<\/a>, the Flores Settlement<\/a> requires each ICE field office to have a juvenile coordinator \u2013 an expert on children and families \u2013 and a compliance officer to address issues.<\/p>\n

\"Protesters
Protesters gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Monday in Bodo Industrial Park in Durango to protest the detainment of two minors and one adult. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A Denver-based attorney from Meyer Law Office<\/a> is consulting with the family, according to an employee with the firm.<\/p>\n

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.<\/p>\n

Raye, a member of the Southwest Rapid Response Network who requested their last name remain anonymous, said that while every ICE detainment comes with heavy feelings, the involvement of children has made this one feel especially difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time it involves kids,\u201d they said. \u201cThe cruelty of that is really apparent to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community member and protester Natalia Anzola, who immigrated from Columbia in 1989, called the detainment of the children \u201cthe first step in erosion of public liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anzola arrived to the protest around 9:30 a.m. Monday and remained as of 6 p.m., with no plans to leave.<\/p>\n

\"What
What started as dozens of protesters grew to more than a 100 protesters Monday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango, where a parent and two children were reportedly being detained. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

She said she joined the protest to let the detained family and immigrant community know she stands with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want them to know they\u2019re not alone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Enrique Orozco-Perez, co-executive director of Compa\u00f1eros, told The Durango Herald<\/em> that the children and their parent were still being held in the ICE field office in Durango as of Monday evening. Protesters intend to remain outside of the office until the children are released, he said \u2013 even if it takes all night.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the message is, if you believe in dignity and you believe in kids not (being) subject to this fascist administration, join us out there,\u201d Orozco-Perez said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking for people to be out there through the night with anything \u2013 coffee, hot chocolate, blankets, generators, noisemakers. We don\u2019t want those kids to go to Denver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orozco-Perez said the children\u2019s mother is not being detained, and that ICE should release the minors to her.<\/p>\n

epond@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"What
What started as dozens of protesters grew to more than a 100 protesters Monday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango, where a parent and two children were reportedly being detained. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"What
What started as dozens of protesters grew to more than a 100 protesters Monday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango, where a parent and two children were reportedly being detained. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"What
What started as dozens of protesters grew to more than a 100 protesters Monday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango, where a parent and two children were reportedly being detained. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"What
What started as dozens of protesters grew to more than a 100 protesters Monday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango, where a parent and two children were reportedly being detained. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"What
What started as dozens of protesters grew to more than a 100 protesters Monday outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Durango, where a parent and two children were reportedly being detained. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Protesters
Protesters decorated a fence outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Monday evening in Bodo Industrial Park in Durango. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The number of protesters gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office Monday in Bodo Industrial Park in Durango grew rapidly from Monday morning to Monday evening. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

going to school when federal agents made arrests, legal advocate says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1086,28,904],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-durango-school-district-9-r","tag-headlines","tag-immigration"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15925"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19918,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15925\/revisions\/19918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15925"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}