DENVER (KDVR) — A teenager detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on June 5 is now free and speaking out about the conditions she faced while in the Aurora contract facility.
Caroline Dias Goncalves, 19, of Utah, was pulled over on June 5 after a Mesa County deputy witnessed her pulling in front of a semitruck, causing the driver to have to use their brakes. Goncalves was released with a written warning from the traffic stop. She also told the deputy during the traffic stop that she’s been living in Utah for over a decade, but was born in Brazil.
Mesa County Sheriff’s Office addresses ICE use of drug, traffic stop information
Shortly after the traffic stop, Goncalves was detained by ICE agents and taken to ICE’s contract detention facility in Aurora, run by the GEO Group. The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office said that it had deputies included in a “communication group” that also included federal law enforcement. The group was intended to be used for drug interdiction efforts.
Teen says treatment of English-speaking inmates differed
On Friday, a 19-year-old University of Utah student and TheDream.US scholar was released from the Aurora facility after posting bond. On Monday, she released a statement detailing the 15 days of confinement that she endured after she was detained.
Goncalves said the 15 days in ICE detention were the “hardest of my life,” and said she felt scared and alone while inside…