Arapahoe County Sheriff Officers detained and ticketed four people protesting outside of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Denver Field Office in Centennial, Colo. on Monday morning, July 20, 2026. Protesters called for the closure of the Aurora GEO Detention Facility and urged people to express solidarity with people being held in immigration detention.
The following statement can be attributed to Olivia Mendoza, ACLU of Colorado executive director:
“We are disturbed that Arapahoe County Sheriff’s deputies forcibly confronted peaceful protesters outside of the ICE Field Office in Centennial. Peaceful protests should never be met with a heavy-handed law enforcement response. That is unacceptable. Full stop.
“Recent events, including the announcement of a contract to open a new detention facility in Hudson, the shooting of a peaceful protester by a GEO Group employee, and a nationwide increase in ICE arrests, have all renewed public scrutiny on the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda.
“As more of our neighbors are targeted by ICE, Coloradans are responding in kind by protesting, speaking out, and participating in civil engagement. When law enforcement officers disrupt these actions, they threaten to stifle and silence constitutionally protected forms of free speech.”