COALITION CONDEMNS USCIS MEMO THREATENING FAMILY SEPARATION AND FORCED INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL FOR GREEN CARD APPLICANTS
As a member of Colorado’s Keep Families Together coalition, RMIAN strongly condemns the recent USCIS memorandum that may require certain green card applicants to leave the country to continue their applications. This policy risks disrupting the lives and livelihoods of international students, tourists, individuals on certain temporary work visas, humanitarian parolees, certain family members of U.S. citizens, and many others by forcing them to bear burdensome travel requirements, including the potential emotional, developmental, and social toll of separation from dependents or other loved ones. Read the full statement here.
As a member of Colorado’s Keep Families Together coalition, RMIAN strongly condemns the recent USCIS memorandum that may require certain green card applicants to leave the country to continue their applications. This policy risks disrupting the lives and livelihoods of international students, tourists, individuals on certain temporary work visas, humanitarian parolees, certain family members of U.S. citizens, and many others by forcing them to bear burdensome travel requirements, including the potential emotional, developmental, and social toll of separation from dependents or other loved ones. Read the full statement here.
With no options left, a Venezuelan family living in Colorado walks into ICE custody, seeking to go back home
This recent piece from The Denver Post examines how fear of detention, legal uncertainty, and mounting pressure are impacting immigrants and their families across Colorado. “When we’re working with folks who are detained, the financial strain and emotional strain on the family and community is making it less likely that people will fight their case when they have a legal right to do so,” said Cindy Schlosser, a social worker who oversees the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network’s social service project.”…It’s not just the detention, but the detention without the hope of reasonable release that puts families and their loved ones who’re detained in these impossible situations to decide, ‘Should I be deported or not?’”
Nicolais: I shed my first tears as an attorney. Tears for freedom from ICE detention
The Colorado Sun ran this moving and insightful opinion piece, written by an attorney who attended a RMIAN immigration training, about his experiences with immigration court and a habeas case.
The Colorado Sun ran this moving and insightful opinion piece, written by an attorney who attended a RMIAN immigration training, about his experiences with immigration court and a habeas case.
Immigrants detained in Colorado by ICE’s ‘deportation machine’ reach for once-rare legal lever
As ICE enforcement increases in our communities, many more of our clients are being wrongfully detained and held in prolonged detention. RMIAN is fighting to ensure immigrants' rights are protected by utilizing its litigation expertise to bring habeas petitions before the federal court—a way to challenge this unlawful confinement. This Denver Post article covers the surge in habeas cases. As Shira Hereld, RMIAN Staff Attorney, said in the article "habeas is the only way that most folks are getting out of detention, and more folks are being both arrested and held in detention than ever before.”
As ICE enforcement increases in our communities, many more of our clients are being wrongfully detained and held in prolonged detention. RMIAN is fighting to ensure immigrants' rights are protected by utilizing its litigation expertise to bring habeas petitions before the federal court—a way to challenge this unlawful confinement. This Denver Post article covers the surge in habeas cases. As Shira Hereld, RMIAN Staff Attorney, said in the article "habeas is the only way that most folks are getting out of detention, and more folks are being both arrested and held in detention than ever before.”
Thousands of immigrants in Colorado were arrested and deported during Trump’s first year
During President Donald Trump’s first year back in office, 4,750 people without legal status were arrested by federal immigration authorities in Colorado, new data shows, reflecting a near-quadrupling of the prior year’s arrest rate.
“They’re not at all surprising,” Laura Lunn, an immigration attorney with the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, said of the numbers. “They’re (emotionally) deflating, but not surprising.”
“Obviously, so much has happened since this administration took over, but I think a lot of folks don’t necessarily remember that Trump announced Operation Aurora shortly (before) he took office,” she continued. “Communities in Denver and Aurora were targeted for mass enforcement actions. We saw military-grade vehicles rolling down the streets of Denver before we saw the same thing happening in L.A., Chicago, Minneapolis.”
During President Donald Trump’s first year back in office, 4,750 people without legal status were arrested by federal immigration authorities in Colorado, new data shows, reflecting a near-quadrupling of the prior year’s arrest rate.
“They’re not at all surprising,” Laura Lunn, an immigration attorney with the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, said of the numbers. “They’re (emotionally) deflating, but not surprising.”
“Obviously, so much has happened since this administration took over, but I think a lot of folks don’t necessarily remember that Trump announced Operation Aurora shortly (before) he took office,” she continued. “Communities in Denver and Aurora were targeted for mass enforcement actions. We saw military-grade vehicles rolling down the streets of Denver before we saw the same thing happening in L.A., Chicago, Minneapolis.”
Iliff School of Theology April Renewal Event
RMIAN Executive Director, Mekela Goehring, and Children’s Program Managing Attorney, Ashley Harrington, will be presenting at the Iliff School of Theology to share about actions community members can take today to advocate for our neighbors. Wednesday, April 29, at 12:00 via Zoom. Register here.
Podcast on Immigration Detention
RMIAN’s Executive Director, Mekela Goehring, and Director of Advocacy & Litigation, Laura Lunn, discuss immigration detention with RMIAN founding Board Member Hiroshi Motomura on his podcast “Unsettled: Immigration in Turbulent Times.” Have a listen to this insightful conversation on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox or Zolberg Podcasts.
RMIAN’s Executive Director, Mekela Goehring, and Director of Advocacy & Litigation, Laura Lunn, discuss immigration detention with RMIAN founding Board Member Hiroshi Motomura on his podcast “Unsettled: Immigration in Turbulent Times.” This episode looks at immigration detention in the second Trump administration. The administration has been greatly expanding detention facilities by buying warehouses to be converted into eight large-scale detention facilities, with the goal of having these facilities operational by the end of September of this year. The administration intends to use military procurement to speed up this transformation. Have a listen to this insightful conversation on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox or Zolberg Podcasts.
Save the Date! CBA-CLE on Habeas Petitions
Habeas Training by RMIAN and Colorado Bar Association
On April 28, 2026, RMIAN and the CBA-CLE are providing a half-day training on the nuts and bolts of representing clients in habeas petitions. A group of experts will walk you through the ins and outs of filing habeas petitions, answer burning questions, and offer robust materials that will ease the burden of learning how to file and present habeas petitions in the District Court for the District of Colorado with a litigation goal focused on securing clients’ freedom from detention. The event is free for anyone committing to take on a pro bono case in the next two years and the program has been submitted for four General CLE Credits.
Habeas Training by RMIAN and Colorado Bar Association
On April 28, 2026, RMIAN and the CBA-CLE are providing a half-day training on the nuts and bolts of representing clients in habeas petitions. A group of experts will walk you through the ins and outs of filing habeas petitions, answer burning questions, and offer robust materials that will ease the burden of learning how to file and present habeas petitions in the District Court for the District of Colorado with a litigation goal focused on securing clients’ freedom from detention. The event is free for anyone committing to take on a pro bono case in the next two years and the program has been submitted for four General CLE Credits. Click Here for more info.
How Denver Is Preparing for a Possible ICE Surge
The Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network has a “robust attorney-referral program,” according to Laura Lunn, its advocacy and litigation director. “Knowing the rules is absolutely the best tool we have at our disposal,” she says.
The Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network has a “robust attorney-referral program,” according to Laura Lunn, its advocacy and litigation director. “Knowing the rules is absolutely the best tool we have at our disposal,” she says.
24 Colorado organizations demand justice for Delvin Francisco Rodriguez
RMIAN and 23 other Colorado organizations sent a letter to the members of our Congressional delegation demanding an investigation into and accountability for the death of Delvin Francisco Rodriguez , a Colorado resident from Summit County, who died in ICE detention after being transferred to an ICE detention center in Mississippi.
In Denver courtroom, Trump administration pushes to send asylum seekers to third countries
Immigration attorneys say use of 'pretermission' raises due process concerns for people seeking asylum
Monique Sherman said: “If somebody has never been to a country, they really deserve some time to learn about that country and figure out if they think they would be safe there and to be able to come up with those arguments,” Sherman said. “This is concerning in all cases, but when somebody has an attorney, we’re able to at least give them a fighting chance, and we have won several oppositions to these motions.
“But most people don’t have lawyers,” she said. “We meet with as many of those people as we can to advise them of their rights, and we’ve met with several who were just blindsided by this.”
Immigration attorneys say use of 'pretermission' raises due process concerns for people seeking asylum
Sherman, with the Immigrant Advocacy Network, said the pretermission process raises significant due process concerns.
“If somebody has never been to a country, they really deserve some time to learn about that country and figure out if they think they would be safe there and to be able to come up with those arguments,” Sherman said. “This is concerning in all cases, but when somebody has an attorney, we’re able to at least give them a fighting chance, and we have won several oppositions to these motions.
“But most people don’t have lawyers,” she said. “We meet with as many of those people as we can to advise them of their rights, and we’ve met with several who were just blindsided by this.”
Amid ICE protests and nationwide strike, businesses donate to Colorado immigrant rights groups
“Our lawyers and our social workers are on the front lines every day, fighting for justice, ensuring that kids are not forced to represent themselves in immigration court,” said Mekela Goehring, executive director at RMIAN.
Goehring says while donations from small businesses were not finalized by Friday night, the organization received more than $18,000 from more than 100 new community donors on Friday alone.
“This has been a powerful day and just an amazing showing of support at a time in which things have felt certainly quite dark,” Goehring said. “Proud to be a Coloradan today.”
“Our lawyers and our social workers are on the front lines every day, fighting for justice, ensuring that kids are not forced to represent themselves in immigration court,” said Mekela Goehring, executive director at RMIAN.
Goehring says while donations from small businesses were not finalized by Friday night, the organization received more than $18,000 from more than 100 new community donors on Friday alone.
“This has been a powerful day and just an amazing showing of support at a time in which things have felt certainly quite dark,” Goehring said. “Proud to be a Coloradan today.”
RMIAN outraged by violent attacks on our communities—No funds for ICE and Border Patrol
RMIAN joined 1,025 organizations in expressing our horror, outrage and deep grief about the continued violent attacks on our immigrant communities and communities of color, as well as their many allies and supporters. We signed on to a letter to Congress demanding “an immediate halt in all funding for these deadly operations until the violence, abuses, and deaths in American communities and in immigration detention centers stop. Congress must refuse to provide one dollar to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol through the appropriations process and immediately take action to revoke the tens of billions already given through last summer’s reconciliation bill.”
RMIAN joined 1,025 organizations in expressing our horror, outrage and deep grief about the continued violent attacks on our immigrant communities and communities of color, as well as their many allies and supporters. “We demand an immediate halt in all funding for these deadly operations until the violence, abuses, and deaths in American communities and in immigration detention centers stop. Congress must refuse to provide one dollar to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol through the appropriations process and immediately take action to revoke the tens of billions already given through last summer’s reconciliation bill.”
New American Immigration Council Report on Immigration Detention Expansion
This report aims to document the historic expansion of detention under the Trump administration. It details not only the policy changes which have led to ICE detention reaching the highest level on record, but also their impact on the individuals who have found themselves locked into it. The growth in immigration detention, and the spectacle which has accompanied the construction and use of new facilities — coupled with the near-elimination of any transparency into the operation and use of those facilities — is the backbone of President Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
As this report reveals, rather than focusing on serious public safety threats and flight risks, the Trump administration is primarily using detention to pressure people into giving up their chance to remain in the United States.
When President Trump took office in January 2025, there were roughly 40,000 people being held in immigration detention. By the start of December, that number had risen by almost 75 percent, with nearly 66,000 people held in immigration detention across the United States and the system reportedly capable of holding 70,000 people on any given day — the highest level in history.
This report aims to document the historic expansion of detention under the Trump administration. It details not only the policy changes which have led to ICE detention reaching the highest level on record, but also their impact on the individuals who have found themselves locked into it. The growth in immigration detention, and the spectacle which has accompanied the construction and use of new facilities — coupled with the near-elimination of any transparency into the operation and use of those facilities — is the backbone of President Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
As this report reveals, rather than focusing on serious public safety threats and flight risks, the Trump administration is primarily using detention to pressure people into giving up their chance to remain in the United States.
RMIAN signs on to Coalition Letter Urging Congress to Refuse Increased Funding for ICE
RMIAN joined more than 400 other civil rights and human rights organizations to call on Congress to rein in the escalating violence and lawlessness endangering our communities.
What data shows about ICE arrests in Colorado in 2025
Arrest rates through mid-October increased fourfold over 2024
Monique Sherman, the Detention Program Managing Attorney at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, said that the data matches her expectations, and that a much larger share of detained people she saw this year were apprehended internally — at work, home or during a traffic stop — rather than at the border.
Arrest rates through mid-October increased fourfold over 2024
Monique Sherman, the Detention Program Managing Attorney at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, said that the data matches her expectations, and that a much larger share of detained people she saw this year were apprehended internally — at work, home or during a traffic stop — rather than at the border.
Immigrant Rights and Community Activist Jeanette Vizguerra-Ramirez Released from ICE Detention
On Monday afternoon, December 22nd, Jeannette Vizguerra-Ramirez walked out of the Aurora Immigration Detention Center into the loving arms of her family, after nine long months inside the facility.
Laura Lunn, RMIAN Director of Advocacy & Littigation, celebrated her release, saying “For decades, Jeanette has advocated for her community. When she was detained earlier this year, she needed her community to step up for her - and that is exactly what they did, showing up at vigils each week to remind her and others detained that they are not forgotten. RMIAN is honored to be a part of the team supporting Jeanette, the larger immigrant rights movement, and engaging in necessary legal battles to ensure that people can speak out without facing unlawful restrictions on their liberty and impermissible limits on their freedom of speech.”
On Monday afternoon, December 22nd, Jeannette Vizguerra-Ramirez walked out of the for profit GEO Immigration Detention Center into the loving arms of her family. After nine long months inside the facility, which has suffered extensive criticism for its lack of adequate health care and substandard food lacking nutrition, both of which Ms. Vizguerra-Ramirez decried.
On Sunday, an Immigration Judge, in a written decision, ordered the release of the immigrant rights activist on bond after finding that the Department of Homeland Security failed to justify her continued detention at a hearing. Ms. Vizguerra-Ramirez’s family posted the bond with support from the esteemed Immigrant Freedom Fund ensuring her release as soon as possible.
Laura Lunn, RMIAN Director of Advocacy & Litigation, celebrated her release, saying “For decades, Jeanette has advocated for her community. When she was detained earlier this year, she needed her community to step up for her - and that is exactly what they did, showing up at vigils each week to remind her and others detained that they are not forgotten. RMIAN is honored to be a part of the team supporting Jeanette, the larger immigrant rights movement, and engaging in necessary legal battles to ensure that people can speak out without facing unlawful restrictions on their liberty and impermissible limits on their freedom of speech.”
Read the full press release from American Friends Service Committee here.
Law360: Biggest Colorado Cases Of 2025
In 2025, a year marked by what some lawyers describe as attacks on the rule of law, a Colorado federal judge preliminarily blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from conducting warrantless arrests in the state without determining probable cause.
Laura Lunn, director of advocacy and litigation at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, said that in a year when people across Colorado have been "terrorized" by mass enforcement actions and "brutal" arrests, the ruling made clear that ICE cannot conduct warrantless arrests without showing good reason.
Judge Halts Warrantless ICE Arrests
Laura Lunn, director of advocacy and litigation at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, said that in a year when people across Colorado have been "terrorized" by mass enforcement actions and "brutal" arrests, the ruling made clear that ICE cannot conduct warrantless arrests without showing good reason.
"Having this type of very clear mandate saying that [ICE] cannot just pick people up kind of willy-nilly, which is what we have been seeing, and instead there has to be clear procedure followed that really goes into what constitutional rights people have in this country is a really critical form of protection for people," Lunn said.
Kids left without representation in Colorado immigration court after federal funding cuts
Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network loses $1 million in federal funding cuts
“There have been major increases in immigration enforcement and detention, loss of vital legal protections, increases in fear and attacks on the immigrant community, exponential increases on removals, unlawful removals and, on top of all of that, RMIAN has seen deep losses in funding to all of our work,” Goehring said. “You’re starting with a deeply unjust and unfair process where there isn’t a whole lot of due process, and what we’ve seen is that all those hardships have been compounded because of a series of both policy and legal decisions the federal government has made.”
RMIAN in The New Yorker
Enemies of the State
How the Trump Administration declared war on Venezuelan migrants in the U.S.
By Jonathan Blitzer
Enemies of the State
How the Trump Administration declared war on Venezuelan migrants in the U.S.
By Jonathan Blitzer