http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1154159638/6

Routine call to police sparked brothers’ woes
The incident sparking concern over Pueblo police policies for dealing with undocumented Mexican workers happened the morning of May 31.

Police Chief Jim Billings, reading from a report by Officer Brian Bowers, said Javier Contreras-Gomez, 25, called police at 6:45 a.m. from the parking lot at the Target store to report that his car had been broken into and the stereo stolen.

“Javier spoke very little English. He did relate that his vehicle had been broken into sometime between May 30 at 10 p.m. and May 31 at 6:30 a.m.,” Bowen wrote.

“The passenger window was broken and the in-dash stereo was missing,” Bowen wrote.

Javier and his brothers, David Contreras, 24, and Mauricio Contreras-Gomez, 19, said they worked for Triad Service Solutions, a Denver janitorial company that contracted with them to clean the store.

“I asked Javier for ID and registration. He did not have a valid Colorado driver’s license but did have an ID. Across the top was written Colorado Identification Law with the words, not a government document. This ID had a Statue of Liberty on it,” and clearly was not valid, Bowen wrote.

Angela Contreras, Javier’s wife, who had arrived at the store, had valid Colorado identification, Bowen wrote.

During a check for outstanding warrants, Bowen was told there was a warrant for a Javier Contreras-Ruiz with a different birth date and a different physical description.

The three men then told Bowen and officer Manuel Urioste they were not in the country legally.

When told of the situation, police Sgt. Ken Espinoza asked dispatchers to notify federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, Billings said.

Two ICE agents took the men into custody at the Pueblo jail and they were taken to the Pueblo ICE facility.

Kristi Martinez, an investigator with the state public defender’s office in Pueblo, said Javier Contreras-Gomez and David Contreras-Gomez were released on bond following an administrative hearing on their immigration status.

Mauricio Contreras-Gomez, however, agreed to be deported to Mexico.

Billings said he had been contacted about the case by several people, including attorney Amber Tafoya with the Center for Immigrant and Community Integration Legal Services, and Nadine Triste, development and community educator with CICI.

“I also had a visit from the Mexican Consulate, who was told by the bishop (Arthur Tafoya) what had happened,” Billings said.

“This is the only case I am aware of where we took someone into custody and then turned them over to ICE when there were not criminal charges,” Billings said. “I need the cooperation of immigrants so they will not be afraid to report crimes to us.”

Advocates for undocumented immigrants say that when people fear they will be deported if they contact police, crimes will go unreported and criminals unpunished.

“What if a woman without documents is beaten and is afraid to contact police?” Kristi Martinez asked. “We have to find out the actual process police use to determine legal status and what business it is of theirs to do so.”

- Pablo Carlos Mora