(DURANGO, COLORADO) Immigrant rights groups in southwest Colorado are demanding the immediate release and reunification of a Durango family after federal immigration agents arrested a father and his two children while they were driving to school at about 7:30 a.m. on October 27, 2025. The father, identified as 40-year-old Colombian national and Durango resident Fernando Jaramillo Solano, and his children, 15-year-old Kewin Daniel Patiño Bustamante and 12-year-old Jana Michel Jaramillo Patiño, were taken into ICE detention, according to advocates and local police. By Wednesday, October 29, 2025, the children had been separated from their father and moved to an undisclosed location, and their mother said she still did not know where they were.
The arrest, which advocates say happened as the family drove to school in Durango, has become a flashpoint for the city and the wider Four Corners region. The mother, Estela Patiño, who was not detained and is the primary applicant on the family’s asylum case, said her family fled Colombia because of threats to their lives and had sought safety in the United States. She said her son and husband were
“beaten, handcuffed and forced to sign documents”
after their arrest. She last spoke to her son at 10 p.m. on Monday, and said she has not heard from her daughter since the moment of the arrest.
Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition are leading demands for federal authorities to identify the children’s location, release them and their father, and reunite the Durango family immediately. The groups say the children’s whereabouts remain unknown to their mother, local community leaders, and advocates, despite repeated calls and requests for information since the detention. As outrage grew this week, Compañeros said it was especially worried about Jana, 12, who they said was being held
“in the custody of only men,”
calling it “inhumane” and a violation of “every prevailing human right for children.”
City officials and advocates said the fallout extended beyond the initial ICE detention. Protests outside the federal facility in Durango drew dozens of residents and immigrant advocates, who called for the family’s release and answers about the children’s safety and location. Witnesses and advocacy groups reported that federal agents used force against demonstrators, describing shoves, punches, pepper spray sprayed inches from protesters’ eyes, and rubber bullets fired at close range. A video recorded at about 6 a.m. on Tuesday showed a federal agent shoving an elderly woman to the ground, prompting the city of Durango to request investigations by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI into the conduct of federal officers.
“Despite our members remaining entirely peaceful, an ICE agent violently punched one of our community members in the face,”
stated a spokesperson from the Southwest Colorado Rapid Response Network. The group and others said Tuesday’s early-morning video aligned with multiple accounts of the protests, where residents described federal agents pushing demonstrators back from the facility shortly after dawn. In response to mounting concern, the city confirmed it had asked state and federal law enforcement to examine the actions seen on camera and other alleged uses of force.
Durango Police Chief Brice Current said his officers urged federal agents to prioritize the children’s well-being during the operation.
“Our department advocated for the welfare of the children… The Department of Police of Durango operates independently and is fully committed to protecting all members of our community with compassion and professionalism,”
he said. Local officials said police had attempted to conduct a welfare check after receiving reports that one child was in distress and may have been suffering abuse, but that federal agents denied them entry to the facility.
The mother’s account of the arrest and subsequent separation has deepened alarm among immigrant advocates. Estela Patiño said the arrests felt
“like an attack on her entire experience in the United States,”
adding,
“It’s destroyed her life,”
and that she feels like she is
“drowning”
and
“choking.”
Family supporters said the children were taken from their father soon after the arrest and moved to an undisclosed location in federal custody. As of October 29, 2025, and continuing into October 30, 2025, advocates said she still did not know where Kewin and Jana were being held.
Advocacy groups said the stakes are high because the family has lived in Colorado for more than 18 months, has no criminal record, and has a pending asylum case that was already in process before the arrest. The father, Fernando Jaramillo Solano, originally from Colombia, holds multiple jobs, including work at two cleaning companies and a hotel, with supporters noting he regularly worked over 80 hours a week to support the household. They said the Durango family sought refuge in the United States after threats in Colombia, only to find themselves facing detention, separation, and uncertainty here. According to Estela, they now felt the same persecution they fled, with the children as the targets.
Community anger intensified as advocates described repeated efforts by local police to have the children released to their mother on the day of the arrest. Durango officers made multiple requests to federal agents, according to city officials and advocates, but the children were not released. Later attempts to check on their welfare were blocked when, advocates said, ICE agents refused to grant police entry. The refusal, in combination with the lack of information about where the children were taken, has become a central focus of community demands this week.
Enrique Orozco-Perez, co-executive director of Compañeros, said federal officers must answer for the separation and the unknown location of the children.
“ICE has forcibly separated a family, and now the community does not know where the children are. This is a deliberate and cruel tactic to instill fear in our communities. We demand to know where these children have been taken and call for their immediate reunification with their family,”
he said. Compañeros and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition said they are also seeking clarification from state officials about whether and how Colorado State Troopers participated in the operation, and they want full investigations into the alleged use of excessive force by federal agents at the protests outside the facility.
The family’s case has also drawn scrutiny because of its timing and process. Estela is the primary applicant on the asylum case; advocates said Fernando and the children are listed as derivatives on the application. The family arrived in Colorado more than a year and a half ago and has been working through the asylum process while living in Durango. Against that backdrop, the arrest of the children on their way to school has resonated through schools, churches, and workplaces, where neighbors described Kewin and Jana as part of the daily fabric of the community. Supporters said the sudden separation and the lack of basic information about the children’s whereabouts are now keeping parents and students on edge.
Throughout the week, immigrant rights groups have coordinated with residents to gather witness statements and videos from the protests. The early-morning footage showing an agent shoving an elderly woman sparked particular outrage, leading the city to ask the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI to investigate. Advocates said they documented incidents where agents shoved and punched protesters and sprayed pepper spray inches from people’s eyes. Some residents reported rubber bullets fired at close range, which they said caused bruises and welts. The Southwest Colorado Rapid Response Network said it was supporting residents who experienced injuries or trauma during the confrontation outside the facility.
As pressure built, the city directed questions about detention decisions to federal authorities, noting that local police do not control access to federal facilities. Chief Current’s statement emphasized that the police department operates independently and that its priority is community safety. Behind the scenes, local officials said they continued to seek answers from federal agencies about the location of the two children and any timeline for release. Parents and school staff in Durango said they were worried about the well-being of both children, particularly 12-year-old Jana, given the concerns about her being held by only men, which Compañeros called
“inhumane”
and a breach of
“every prevailing human right for children.”
The father’s work record became a talking point for residents who said they knew him through cleaning services at area businesses and a local hotel. Supporters described him as a steady presence who worked more than 80 hours a week, often holding shifts across two cleaning companies and the hotel to provide for the family. A neighbor said he saw Fernando leaving early and returning late most days. The same neighbor said he watched the protests unfold and described federal agents driving demonstrators back from the building, saying it was the first time he had seen such a clash on a quiet street near downtown.
Immigration attorneys and volunteers have been working with the family’s advocates to contact federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, to determine where the children were taken following the detention. Advocates said they have not received confirmation from federal authorities about any transfer or a receiving facility. The lack of information has left the Durango family struggling to coordinate anything from legal counsel to phone calls with the children. Estela said she waited for a call on Monday night and reached her son at 10 p.m. but had no contact with her daughter since the morning of the arrest.
The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and Compañeros, alongside the Southwest Colorado Rapid Response Network, outlined their demands in public statements and at the protests. They are calling for immediate location and release of the two minors and their father, immediate reunification of the family, a full investigation into the alleged use of excessive force by ICE agents, and an explanation from state officials about the involvement of Colorado State Troopers in the operation. Residents said they would continue to gather outside the facility and at city offices until the family was reunited and the children’s location was confirmed.
Federal immigration authorities did not provide immediate public details about the operation, the children’s placement, or the use of force allegations at the protests. ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations oversees arrests and detention across the country; basic information about its scope and responsibilities is available from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. In Durango, the absence of clear answers has kept tensions high, with advocates urging state and federal oversight while trying to keep the focus on the two children and their mother waiting at home.
For Estela, a quiet apartment in Durango has become the center of a crisis. She told advocates that the family fled Colombia amid threats of being killed and hoped to find safety through an asylum case in the United States. Instead, she said, the arrest of her husband and children felt
“like an attack on her entire experience in the United States.”
She said,
“It’s destroyed her life,”
and that she feels like she is
“drowning”
and
“choking”
as she waits for information. The mother’s account has been taken up by neighbors and friends at school meetings and vigils, where residents bring signs urging the children’s release and speak about the shock of a school-day arrest that ended in separation and silence.
By Thursday, October 30, 2025, advocates said the children’s location remained unknown and investigations into the protest clashes were underway with state and federal agencies. Community groups vowed to keep pressing for clarity and accountability in the case, while Durango police reiterated that they had pushed for the children’s welfare and that the department operated independently of federal agencies. For now, the focus remains on a Durango family at the center of an ICE detention that has triggered protests, official investigations, and urgent questions about how a routine drive to school turned into an asylum case in crisis.
This Article in a Nutshell
ICE detained Fernando Jaramillo Solano and his two children on October 27, 2025, as they drove to school in Durango. By October 29 the children had been separated and moved to an undisclosed facility, leaving their mother, asylum applicant Estela Patiño, without information. Local immigrant rights groups, Compañeros and Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, demanded immediate release and reunification and called for investigations into alleged excessive force by federal agents during protests. Durango officials requested CBI and FBI probes while advocates pressed for transparency and the children’s welfare.
