A Mesa County sheriff’s deputy violated Colorado law when he shared information with federal officials that led to a Utah college student’s immigration arrest last month, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced Tuesday.
Weiser filed a civil complaint against Investigator Alexander Zwinck, alleging the deputy knowingly assisted in federal immigration enforcement, which is prohibited by state law.
The deputy purposely stalled the student so that federal immigration officers could get into position to arrest her, and passed on details about the make and model of her car, her license plate and her direction and timing of travel, Weiser said during a news conference.
Zwinck later congratulated the federal officers when they detained the student, Weiser said.
“These actions by the sheriff’s deputy were for the sole purpose of immigration enforcement,” Weiser said.
Colorado law prohibits local law enforcement officers from carrying out civil immigration enforcement and largely blocks local police agencies from working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Zwinck pulled over 19-year-old Caroline Dias Goncalves on June 5 on Interstate 70 near Loma because she was following a semitrailer too closely. He then questioned her about her accent and where she was from — she said she was born in Brazil — before sharing information about her in a Signal group chat that included federal agents.
Zwinck let Dias Goncalves go from the traffic stop with a warning, but federal immigration agents pulled her over near Grand Junction and detained her for civil immigration enforcement.
She was held in custody in Aurora for more than two weeks before she was released on bail.
The Signal group chat included a mix of local and federal officers and was used for regional drug-smuggling enforcement, according to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office. A spokeswoman said deputies did not know the information shared in the chat was used for immigration enforcement and said the sheriff’s office pulled out of the chat after Dias Goncalves’ detainment.
Zwinck was placed on administrative leave after the incident. It was not clear exactly what information he shared in the group chat; the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office declined to release it. The Denver Post filed a Freedom of Information Act request for copies of the group chat with ICE on June 25; the request has gone unanswered.
Dias Goncalves, who attends the University of Utah, came to the U.S. from Brazil with her family when she was 7 and overstayed a tourist visa. She has a pending asylum application, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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