Caroline Dias Goncalves was pulled over on a traffic stop and released with a warning. Afterwards, ICE agents arrested her after she exited the highway.
MESA COUNTY, Colo. โ A 19-year-old university student who has lived in Utah since she was 12 and has a pending asylum case was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in early June, soon after she was released from a traffic stop by a sheriff’s deputy on Interstate 70 in Mesa County.ย
Caroline Dias Goncalves was on her way to Denver when she was pulled over by a Mesa County sheriff’s deputy while driving on I-70 outside Loma on June 5. The sheriff’s department did not say why they pulled her over on a traffic stop, but said in a statement on their website that the traffic stop lasted “less than 20 minutes.” In body camera video released by the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy tells Dias Goncalves that she was driving too close to a semi-truck. ย
The sheriff’s office said they do not investigate residency status during law enforcement interactions.ย
But, after she was released from the traffic stop with a warning, Dias Goncalves continued her trip and exited the highway. That’s when ICE agents stopped her, arrested her and took her to the ICE detention facility in Aurora. ย
Dias Goncalves is one of nearly 2.5 millionย Dreamers living in the U.S., NBC News reports. The word โDreamerโ refers to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Dias Goncalves was born in Brazil and was brought to the United States as a 7-year-old, NBC News reports.ย
A statement on the sheriff’s office website said they learned that the deputy involved in Dias Goncalves’ traffic stop belonged to a communication group that was also being used by federal agents investigating immigration status.ย
“Through our Administrative Investigation, we have learned that the federal representatives within the communication group began using the material collected for drug interdiction efforts to extrapolate immigration information for the purposes of ICE enforcement,” the sheriff’s office said.ย
The sheriff’s statement said the “use of information is contradictory to Colorado law and was initially intended for the purpose of reducing illegal drug trafficking in Colorado. Unfortunately, it resulted in the later contact between ICE and Miss Dias Goncalves.”
“We were unaware that the communication group was used for anything other than drug interdiction efforts, including immigration,” the sheriff’s office said. “We have since removed all Mesa County Sheriffโs Office members from the communication group.”
Watch the body camera footage released by the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office:
About The Author
