Armed with knowledge
Local community organizers work to ensure immigrant neighbors know their rights

In Southwest Colorado, increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity has prompted local groups to organize to protect immigrants and arm residents with knowledge about their constitutional rights when dealing with federal law enforcement.

Over the past month, approximately 20 people have been detained by ICE in La Plata County, Beatriz Garcia Waddell, a Western Slope community organizer with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, said.

Among these incidents was an arrest Aug. 18 in Aztec, New Mexico, in which Jorge Martin Ortiz-Rosalez was arrested in his own car in front of his wife and daughters. Their windows were smashed by law enforcement, even as Ortiz-Rosalez yelled that his children were in the car. No arrest warrant was served, according to a Durango Herald article. 

In response to increased ICE presence in the region, local groups have been holding “Know Your Rights” trainings to educate both immigrants and allies about what to do if federal law enforcement is present. Garcia Waddell held one such training in Cortez in mid-August with a group of around 40, mostly white, retirement-aged community members.

Mariana Stump, an activist who lives in Cortez, has also held a “Know Your Rights” training for the Latino community in Montezuma County. Stump said that about 40 people attended a training in Spanish she held at a church in Cortez in August. She plans to organize another one in September. “We just keep spreading the word to let the community know that they’re not alone. We’re here to help them and support them in any hard and difficult time,” said Stump.

Angela Clark, who helped start the Cortez immigrant support group Manos Unidad as part of Montezuma County’s Indivisible chapter, said in a Daily Yonder interview that many Latino residents didn’t attend big local events like the rodeo and the Montezuma County Fair this year out of fear of ICE activity. 

In rural communities like Cortez, Latino residents have a lot of economic power and their absence will have ripple effects, she said. “Restaurants would be closed. Hotels would not have staff,” said Clark.

According to census data, around 3,200 Hispanic identifying people live in Montezuma County, about 12% of the population. Stump said many residents who are afraid of ICE agents don’t want to leave the house, even to go to Walmart. To help mitigate this risk she runs errands for them.

Colorado Rapid Response Network was established in Colorado in 2016 by a coalition of organizations. The network receives calls about ICE sightings or activity and mobilizes local people to respond to and confirm any activity. Other states, cities and regions have their own localized rapid response networks like the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, the Florida Immigrant Coalition Hotline and the California Rapid Response Network. 

Responders within these networks are trained and have practice dealing with federal law enforcement and immigrants’ rights. “Practice is very important, that’s how you know what to do in a stressful situation,” said Garcia Waddell. In La Plata County, Clark said a recent ICE raid led to a man fleeing by foot into the mountains, leaving his work truck behind with ICE agents who were unable to catch him. 

According to Clark, agents attempted to impound the truck, but two people who were mobilized through the rapid response network were there and would not allow it. “Two (volunteers) sat there for 25 minutes and kept saying, ‘show me the judicial warrant.’ And they protected this man’s property,” said Clark.

In rural communities, it’s even more important to have expansive networks of people trained and ready to respond in these situations. It’s a 40-minute drive between Cortez and Durango, so the two communities need their own independent response teams. Clark said that there are now around 16 people in Montezuma County ready to respond to ICE reports. So far, they’ve only had false alarms. 

Garcia Waddell sees this kind of organizing as a way to bring a voice and visibility to rural areas that don’t have a lot of resources. Her work with the Colorado Immigrant Response Coalition connects rural communities on the Western Slope to statewide resources.

During the “Know Your Rights” training in Cortez, Garcia Waddell talked about the difference between public and private property. She explained that to detain someone on private property, which includes a vehicle, officers need either a warrant signed by a judge or consent, which can be given implicitly by opening a door for an officer.

All people in the United States, regardless of citizenship, are protected by the United States Constitution. Garcia Waddell highlighted the fourth, fifth and sixth amendments in her presentation at St. Barnabas Church. The fourth amendment says that any arrests must have probable cause, while the sixth amendment says that people have the right to know what the probable cause is. 

She reminded people to make sure federal agents have a signed judicial warrant before you comply with their requests and that detainees have a right to ask on what grounds they are being detained. The fourth amendment – the right to remain silent – means you don’t have to say anything that could incriminate yourself and that you have the right to an attorney. “My kids love this one,” joked Garcia Waddel about her children invoking the fourth amendment at home. Evidently, for Garcia Waddel, it’s never too early to start teaching the building blocks of constitutional law.  

An attendee asked why ICE agents are smashing windows, an obvious violation of these constitutional rights, and Garcia Waddell explained that the government doesn’t have any accountability with federal agencies. “You get to the court, and maybe the court decides you are being taken legally or illegally,” she said. “But I haven’t seen any case where ICE agents have been reprimanded for their actions.”

This is all the more reason to know your rights and defend them, she said. By asking for a warrant and refusing to comply without one, she hopes fewer people will be detained in the first place. It’s also up to the community to protect their immigrant neighbors.

“The law is a tool,” Garcia Waddell said to the group in Cortez. “If you don’t use it, it will not do anything good. We have to exercise our rights to defend our community … because if we give up defending we’re going to be in a very authoritarian situation.”

Ilana Newman is a writer and photographer who lives in Mancos. The Daily Yonder is the nation's only dedicated newsroom for rural reporting and storytelling. It was founded by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Rural Strategies.