Court Cases

The ACLU of Colorado filed a lawsuit against an Aurora landlord after repeated threats to report tenants to immigration authorities. The court entered a preliminary injunction ordering the landlord not to threaten, harass, or retaliate our clients, including through disclosure of information about their immigration or citizenship status. The landlord then petitioned for bankruptcy, and the ACLU case is stayed in state court while that proceeding progresses. The preliminary injunction remains in full force and effect.

In a lawsuit brought against Colorado and Denver by the federal government, the ACLU of Colorado filed an amicus brief defending state and local laws that limit the diversion of their resources for the purpose of federal civil immigration enforcement. The brief argues that these laws are good policy, as they protect public safety and the functioning of state government, keep state actors within constitutional bounds, and promote the overall well-being of our communities and economy.

We argue that under the 287(g) Program, at the request of U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), the Sheriff unlawfully prolongs the detention of people who are incarcerated who are otherwise eligible for release from jail.

This case seeks monetary compensation for Saul Cisneros, who was illegally kept prisoner in the El Paso County Jail for almost four months after his daughter posted his bond.

This lawsuit, filed on behalf of immigration attorney Jennifer Smith, challenges what ICE describes as its “practice” of denying access to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process when the agency regards the attorney’s client as a “fugitive.”

In this lawsuit, the children of Kamyar Samimi seek to hold the Geo Group accountable for the wrongful death of their father. Mr. Samimi, a Legal Permanent Resident, died in December 2017, after two weeks in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody at the Aurora Contract Detention Facility (ACDF), a for-profit detention center operated by GEO. The ACLU of Colorado’s investigation, which required a lawsuit to force ICE to release records under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed a gut-wrenching picture of his final days and reflected the inhumane conditions and lack of adequate medical care at ACDF.

This suit, filed on behalf of Colorado resident Luis Quezada, asserts that Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink illegally imprisoned the ACLU’s client for 47 days in 2009 simply because federal immigration authorities suspected that Mr. Quezada was here in violation of federal immigration laws.

This case, which names the Weld County sheriff and district attorney as defendants, challenges the validity of the search warrant and the subsequent search of tax records and asserts that Weld County officials violated the right of privacy of thousands of innocent taxpayers who were not suspected of any wrongdoing.