Dear Attorney General Weiser,

We, the undersigned organizations and community members, write to express our deep concern and outrage over recent reports that the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office assisted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in detaining Caroline Dias Goncalves, a student at the University of Utah, after a routine traffic stop in Colorado. This apparent collaboration with federal immigration authorities—without a judicial warrant or court order—appears to be a direct violation of multiple Colorado state laws enacted to protect all residents from unlawful detention and the harmful overreach of immigration enforcement.

Caroline was pulled over for driving too close to a semi-truck and released with a warning. Yet shortly after, she was detained by ICE following a flag raised by Mesa County law enforcement in a multi-agency chat that included ICE agents.

We are also deeply concerned by the possibility that this incident involved racial profiling. Reports indicate that the Mesa County deputy questioned Ms. Dias Goncalves about her accent and national origin—asking where she was from—raising serious red flags. Racial profiling by law enforcement not only violates basic civil rights but is also prohibited under both state and federal law. We urge your office to investigate not only the information-sharing violations but also whether this traffic stop and subsequent actions were motivated by bias based on Ms. Dias Goncalves’ perceived ethnicity or immigration status.

According to the Mesa County Sheriff’s own statement, personal identifying information (PII) was shared with ICE, in violation of several Colorado laws:

SB21-131 (2021): Prohibits state and local agencies from sharing non-public personal identifying information for immigration enforcement.

SB25-276 (2025): Further strengthens limits on law enforcement sharing PII without a warrant.

HB19-1124 (2019): Prohibits local law enforcement from honoring civil immigration detainers without a judicial warrant.

This kind of unlawful information sharing undermines public trust, endangers lives, and violates the very laws Coloradans fought to pass to keep our communities safe.

We also note the troubling timing of this incident—just as a whistleblower lawsuit has been filed against Governor Polis for allegedly directing state employees to share data with ICE, without a judicial warrant. We are also increasingly alarmed by other reports of unlawful collaboration and data sharing. In Denver, Flock surveillance cameras are reportedly being used to capture and share license plate data with ICE. In Loveland, police gave ATF agents access to their Flock account —access that was then used to conduct searches on behalf of ICE. These actions violate state law and expose serious loopholes that allow federal agencies to sidestep Colorado law through backdoor data-sharing. This is not an isolated failure, but part of a growing pattern of illegal collaboration that puts immigrant communities at risk.

While we recognize that the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office has since acknowledged a mistake and expressed openness to improving its practices, this moment demands more than internal reflection—it demands public accountability. We urge you to:

1. Investigate the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office to determine whether state laws were violated and recommend appropriate corrective actions or sanctions.

2. Investigate whether racial profiling occurred during the traffic stop and interactions with Ms. Dias Goncalves, including the deputy’s questioning and communications with other law enforcement. Racial profiling is illegal under state and federal law and must be treated as a serious civil rights violation.

3. Investigate the Governor’s Office’s role in the facilitation of unlawful information sharing between state agencies and ICE.

4. Ensure that all law enforcement and government agencies across the state are in compliance and receive clear guidance and training on Colorado’s immigration-related laws, including those passed to limit state entanglement with federal immigration enforcement.

We cannot allow state officials to pick and choose which laws to follow—especially when immigrant lives and community safety are on the line. Colorado has worked hard to become a state where all families, regardless of immigration status, can thrive. That work must be honored and upheld.

We call on you to act swiftly and transparently to restore the trust that has been eroded by these egregious violations and to reaffirm Colorado’s commitment to the fairness and dignity of all our residents.