This story was originally published by The Durango Herald.
By Christian Burney, Herald Staff Writer and Elizabeth Pond, Herald Staff Writer
A Durango family arrested by ICE last month has signed paperwork for self-deportation to Colombia, according to an immigrant advocate close to the family.
“(The father is) hurt and angry and done believing promises,” said Liza Tregillus, a member of the Apoyo Immigrant Partner Team.
She was referring to Fernando Jaramillo Solano, who, along with his 12-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a traffic stop around 7:30 a.m. Oct. 27 while driving to school.
Meanwhile, Durango City Council passed a resolution this week asking Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District delegation to investigate federal immigration agents who arrested the family and clashed with protesters.
In a news release this week, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics and pledged to continue advocating for the father and his two children.
“Our fight is not over. We will continue to demand transparency from DHS regarding allegations of violence, and about what they did to this family,” Hickenlooper said. “Two innocent children will carry this trauma for the rest of their lives.”
Estela Patiño, the wife and mother in the family arrested by ICE, pleaded with City Council on Tuesday to support an investigation into federal agents’ actions.
She spoke in Spanish with the assistance of an interpreter.
Patiño said her daughter, Jana, told her an ICE agent inappropriately touched her the day of her arrest. She previously alleged her son and husband were beaten by agents while in custody in Durango. She said they were denied proper meals, held in a room with lights on 24/7 and given a single toilet open to a room full of male agents.
ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said they take such allegations seriously. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin criticized the media for reporting immigrant stories that “make such heinous allegations, rather than report it to any law enforcement authorities.”
The Oct. 27 arrest of Solano and his children sparked a protest outside the ICE field office at 32 Sheppard Drive south of downtown Durango. The demonstration grew to more than 200 people and lasted over 24 hours, culminating with federal agents using pepper spray and rubber bullets on protesters.
Solano and his two children were held at the field office for 36 hours, where they endured verbal and physical abuse, according to Patiño, before being transferred together to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilly, Texas.
The family described conditions in Dilly as relatively better than those in the Durango ICE office, according to Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center.
As of Wednesday, Solano remained at the Texas detention center, according to the ICE Online Detainee Locator System. Children under 18 are not listed in the system, but both children remain with him, Tregillus said.
At the time of the arrest, the family had lived in the U.S. for 18 months, according to Compañeros. A representative from the group said the family has had a pending asylum case since December 2024.
Solano was not the intended target of the arrest, according to a senior ICE official’s testimony during a court hearing last month in Denver regarding a lawsuit challenging the agency’s arrest practices in Colorado.
Tregillus said an immigration judge told Solano he has a strong immigration case – but requests for parole for Solano and his children are incredibly unlikely to be granted.
She said Patiño, with community support, is in the process of having her dogs spayed and neutered, packing her bags, and coordinating a way back to Colombia where she hopes to be reunited with her family.
Solano’s court hearing is scheduled for more than a year out, meaning he and his children would have to remain in detention in the interim unless authorities granted parole, she said.
Alleged sexual misconduct by ICE agent
Patiño said she spoke with her daughter, Jana, on Oct. 29 – two days after her arrest. At that time, Jana said an ICE agent touched her inappropriately. More specifically, Patiño said her daughter was touched on her chest during the initial traffic stop leading up to their arrests.
“They were separating us and they were going to put my brother and my dad in another car,” Patiño said, recounting her daughter’s words. “When I was alone in another car, one of the ICE agents started touching my private.”
A Denver ICE spokesperson told The Durango Herald that the agency takes claims of misconduct seriously and its Office of Professional Responsibility investigates reported incidents.
In a follow-up response, the spokesperson provided a comment from McLaughlin, the DHS secretary.
McLaughlin dismissed concerns of abuse.
She referred to Solano as “Jaramillo,” called him an “illegal alien from Colombia” and said he was arrested during a “targeted immigration enforcement operation in Durango.”
Solano was arrested after immigration authorities pulled him over after mistaking him for someone else, an ICE officer acknowledged last month during a federal court hearing in Denver.
Requests for investigations
City Council’s resolution on Tuesday requests a congressional delegation conduct an investigation into DHS and ICE officials’ conduct on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28.
Likewise, the Durango Police Department has requested the Colorado Bureau of Investigation investigate an incident involving a federal agent accused of throwing a protester to the ground outside the ICE field office on Oct. 28.
Tregillus and other advocates for the family have contacted local and federal officials requesting an investigation into the family’s detention, claims of abuse and the actions of federal officers who forcefully engaged protesters.
Some residents have even called for an investigation into city zoning standards as they relate to the ICE field office building south of downtown Durango.
In her statement to the Herald, McLaughlin pointed the finger toward former President Joe Biden.
“Jaramillo illegally entered the country on June 24, 2024, near San Diego, California, and was RELEASED into this country (by) the Biden administration,” she said. “He (Solano) and his two children did not utilize the CBP Home program and are therefore do not (sic) qualify for its incentives. They were granted a voluntary departure by the immigration judge and ICE will facilitate their return.”
Family signs for voluntary deportation
Tregillus confirmed this week that the family signed off on self-deportation. That, in itself, is a difficult process.
The family has requested parole and expedited court hearings for the family’s asylum case – which Tregillus said is notably strong – to no avail, she said.
“Fernando has now signed for voluntary departure, and the family is waiting to be returned to Colombia in hopes of regaining even a portion of the freedom that was taken from them,” a Compañeros news release said.
The family is “devastated and exhausted,” the release said, and Jana is experiencing “acute psychological distress” and does not trust the mental health professionals available to her in detention, making the family’s release even more urgent, the group said.
Politicians, law enforcement, prominent figures called on
Compañeros has called on U.S. Sens. Hickenlooper, Michael Bennet, U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to respond to the situation and advocate for the family. In Wednesday’s news release, Compañeros asked community members to contact the four elected officials to “express concern and request their assistance.”
Hickenlooper responded to Compañeros in a public statement on Wednesday.
“The Trump administration turned Fernando and his children’s dream into an American tragedy,” he said. “They forced a father and his 15- and 12-year-old kids to make an impossible choice: leave their wife and mother behind and return to a country where they don’t feel safe; or remain indefinitely isolated in detention, separated from her. They didn’t care that they had been accepted into the asylum process and had no criminal history. They didn’t care that Denver’s third-ranking ICE official admitted that their arrest was a mistake.”
Hickenlooper said his office “worked day in and day out” advocating for the family and demanding answers from ICE.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was asked directly to release the children and refused, Hickenlooper said.
Durango City Council members Jessika Loyer, Dave Woodruff and Shirley González voted in favor of opening an investigation into the circumstances of the family’s detention at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Compañeros said the three councilors “demonstrated a commitment to transparency, accountability and the safety of the entire community” and that their response “reflect(s) leadership during a moment of deep concern.”
Compañeros said the family has expressed gratitude to community members, organizations and advocates who have stood with them during the ordeal, and that Patiño is still holding out hope that her partner and children might be released and allowed to return to Durango.
“We want to remind the community that the immediate release of the Jaramillo Solano family remains fully within the discretionary authority of DHS,” Compañeros said in the release. “DHS has the ability to release the family at any moment if it chooses to do so. For this reason, we ask community members to contact their legislators today and urge them to request the family’s immediate release. Continued public pressure on DHS and ICE is essential to bringing this family home.”
Editor’s note: Staff reporter Christian Burney has a family member who serves on the board of Comapñeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center.
