August 07, 2025 11:44 AM UTC

Remembering the Main Thing About the Mesa County Immigration Story

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• by: Colorado Pols

Congressman Gabe Evans (R-Ft. Lupton) continues to claim — despite ludicrous amounts of evidence to the contrary — that 100% of immigrant detentions and deportations conducted by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are justified because of the risks to public safety. Evans keeps going back to the same talking point: That the goal of new immigration enforcement efforts is to find “gangsters, not grandmas.” The Trump administration, meanwhile, is denying multiple reports that it set a goal of 3,000 daily deportations — regardless of the alleged “crime” perpetrated by an individual.

It’s easy to forget these critical details amid the developing story of a 19-year-old college student from Utah who was pulled over by a Mesa County Sheriffs Deputy on June 2. Caroline Dias Goncalves, a 19-year-old college student from Utah who was born in Brazil, has no criminal record and possesses both a work permit and a social security number; yet Goncalves was quickly detained by ICE agents and spent two weeks in an Aurora detention facility before bonding out on June 20. How did ICE know about Goncalves? Because local agents were informed of her presence by Deputy Alexander Zwinck, who had asked her about where she was born when he first pulled her over. State and local law enforcement officers are prohibited by Colorado law from asking people about their immigration status and from aiding in federal immigration enforcement outside of their criminal enforcement duties.

Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit against Deputy Zwinck in late June. Mesa County Republican Sheriff Todd Rowell announced days later that Zwinck and four other deputies were being disciplined for their actions.

Said Rowell in a statement:

“The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office should not have had any role in the chain of events leading to Ms. Dias Goncalves’ detention, and I regret that this occurred. I apologize to Ms. Dias Goncalves.”

This should have been the end of this particular story, but grandstanding Republican politicians in Mesa County aren’t ready to let things go. As 9News reported on Tuesday:

Mesa County Commissioners voted to file a lawsuit against Colorado’s Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser and Gov. Jared Polis Tuesday, claiming a state immigration law violates constitutional rights and threatens law enforcement operations…

…During the Aug. 5 public hearing, commissioners Cody Davis, Bobbie Daniel and JJ Fletcher voted to approve both the lawsuit authorization and the use of public funds for legal representation.

“Today, our Board of County Commissioners voted to authorize the Mesa County Attorney’s Office to utilize funds for legal representation and file a federal lawsuit against Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Gov. Jared Polis, in their official capacities, in response to recent legal action taken by the Colorado Attorney General,” the commissioners said in a joint statement.

The commissioners said the filing “is intended to seek legal clarity regarding the role and responsibilities of local law enforcement under current state law, Senate Bill 25-276, and to protect Mesa County’s legal and financial interests.”

It is silly that a county government would file a lawsuit against state officials because they don’t like state laws that are not their purview anyway, but welcome to the MAGA multiverse:

Mesa County Attorney Todd Starr said the county would seek declaratory judgment and injunctive relief.

“This sends a clear message,” Starr told commissioners. “We will not stand by while our employees are targeted for doing their jobs.”

Um…your employees are legally not allowed to ask people about their country of birth or to coordinate with federal immigration officials. You don’t have to agree with the law, but the Mesa County deputies in question are absolutely required to follow all of the Colorado laws…not just some of them.

We’ll see if this new lawsuit proceeds beyond what was probably its main purpose — already achieved — which was to allow Mesa County Republican officials to shake their collective fists and make some headlines.

If this story does keep moving forward, media outlets would be wise to continue to point out the fallacy that led to the detention of a 19-year-old college student in the first place: We’re not focusing on deporting dangerous criminals — we’re deporting anyone who has a pulse who looks like they might not have been born in the United States. This is the hard truth that Republican talking heads such as Gabe Evans would prefer to ignore.

And there’s one other: What the Trump administration is really accomplishing is convincing most Americans that being anti-immigration is anti-American. That’s bad news for Trump, Evans, and anyone else trying to pretend that massive immigration crackdowns are good for anyone.

Hell, even South Park has it figured out.