Protests against proposed federal immigration detention facilities were held on two fronts in Colorado Springs on Tuesday. 

More than 70 people gathered to ask the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners to speak out against proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities.

Federal documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union state that six new facilities could be coming to Colorado, with two to be located in Colorado Springs. 

More than a dozen of the protesters spoke at the commissioners’ meeting at Centennial Hall downtown, asking that the all-Republican board oppose installment of the facilities.

Commissioners have been outspoken in their support for collaborating with ICE to remove illegal immigrants, stating on multiple occasions their stance against El Paso County becoming a sanctuary jurisdiction.

“The El Paso County Commissioners fully support the efforts of our federal partners, including ICE, to secure our borders, enforce immigration laws and remove criminal illegal aliens from our communities,” a spokesperson for the commissioners told The Gazette in an emailed statement following Tuesday’s protest.

“While we are not directly involved and have no specific knowledge of ICE’s plans regarding local facilities, we continue to support their role in promoting national and community safety.” 

Dozens of visibly frustrated attendees filled the seats during the meeting as the board members’ stance drew heated statements from protesters, some of whom called out the commissioners for not paying attention or appearing dispassionate faces during their statements. 

Protesters compared the immigrant detention centers to Nazi concentration camps, including a Colorado Springs resident who had family members who survived them.

“They were rounded up for who they were, so just for living. And it breaks my heart to think that people who are here — just living, contributing to our communities, raising their families … are being rounded up, not committing any crimes and being whisked away, kidnapped and put into these centers,” Deborah Greymoon told the commissioners.

Others spoke to their own personal experiences. Margarita Trevino Waters, an immigrant from Mexico who has lived in the U.S. for 25 years, said her life here has been “fantastic” until now.

“Now, I have to carry my immigration papers and my passport picture everywhere I go. Am I going to be detained? Am I going to be going to these ICE detention centers?” she said.

At least 25 people spoke at the meeting, including former state Rep. Stephanie Vigil of Colorado Springs. People in the crowd waved their hands or stood in support at the end of every statement. There were three moments when the crowd clapped or cheered, but they were asked to be quiet each time by board chair Carrie Geitner.

No commissioner responded when asked if they still support a 2024 lawsuit that claims state statutes that keep local law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities are illegal and unconstitutional. 

Christian Rice, a 29-year-old Latino man who spoke to the board, told The Gazette after the meeting that, while he can’t speak for all them, it seemed as though many of them, including Geitner, weren’t listening to the “real fear” that people shared.

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On Tuesday evening, more than 60 protesters gathered outside the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office to protest for a similar cause.

“Disappeared in America” focuses on those who have been arrested by immigration agents and are unaccounted for. The event was organized by Indivisible Colorado Springs, a political group that has an immigration committee that focuses on injustice against immigrants.

The protesters largely focused on the plans for two detention facilities that could come to the Springs and the position that the Sheriff’s Office holds in immigration decisions. 

Sheriff Joe Roybal has supported the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its immigration initiatives. Since May, Roybal has signed off on transferring 35 people from county to ICE custody, and has released at least two statements declaring the office’s collaboration with immigration officials. 

Brandon Rancon, chair of the Colorado Springs Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, led chants outside the office calling out Roybal, asking “how many children have you deported today?” and calling for “no more raids.” 

Rancon told The Gazette “We stand directly opposed to the Sheriff’s Office working with ICE. We demand an end to the city and county collusion with immigration and immigration enforcement. We demand ICE off of our streets.”  

Don Klingner, a 78-year-old city resident, said he has been protesting for immigrant rights since 1966, and he fears that history is being repeated. 

“The poem, ‘first they came for the socialists,’ is only four lines long. People better get it pretty quickly,” he said.

Klingner is referring to the famous Holocaust poem, “First They Came,” written by Martin Niemöller in 1946, according to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust Organization. The poem delves into the systemic oppression that occurred in Nazi Germany.

Protesters surrounded the Sheriff’s Office for over an hour.

“A lot of people can’t be out here, using their voices, because they could lose their jobs. Well, I’m retired, and I’d like to see what they do to a 78-year-old grandpa,” Klingner said.