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Biden-appointed judge probes whether ICE skirted judge’s release orders in Colorado cases

Judge Charlotte Sweeney is investigating 14 cases where detainees were re-detained within hours of court-ordered release

By Elaine Mallon | Fox News

Published November 7, 2026 1:25pm EST | Updated November 7, 2026 1:27pm EST

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A Biden-appointed federal judge ordered ICE’s Denver field office director to appear in court Monday amid concerns that immigration authorities violated judicial release orders by immediately re-arresting detainees, including at least one instance outside a detention facility.

Nathan Rasper has been summoned as part of an inquiry involving 14 people who were re-arrested after being released from immigration detention. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) maintains that ICE complied with lawful court orders and that a judicial release order does not permanently shield individuals from immigration enforcement.

“When an illegal alien is ordered released by a judge, that does not immunize the alien from immigration enforcement for all time,” DHS said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “ICE may seek to re-arrest the alien in a way that complies with the judicial decision. To suggest that ICE cannot do this is nothing short of sabotage.”

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The Nov. 5 order issued by U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney followed an earlier ruling requiring the government to identify every case in Colorado since Oct. 27 in which ICE re-detained someone within 12 hours of a court-ordered release. Federal officials subsequently identified 14 petitioners who had been re-arrested after being released, but the filing did not provide the precise timing of when the re-arrests occurred. She directed officials to provide the exact dates and times of those releases and re-arrests and identify any additional individuals immediately detained following court-ordered releases.

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A man holds his immigration paperwork while handcuffed after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside an immigration courtroom, June 17, 2025, at the Jacob K. Javits federal building in New York.(AP)

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The additional reporting requirements followed a Nov. 4 hearing in which Sweeney questioned whether ICE was circumventing judicial orders by briefly releasing detainees before immediately taking them back into custody. At that hearing, she ordered Rasper to appear at a follow-up hearing Monday to address the agency’s practices.

The inquiry stems in part from the case of Ramon Quintero Alvarez, who was released from immigration detention on Oct. 27 before ICE immediately took him back into custody, according to a government court filing.

In a Nov. 3 court filing, federal government attorneys said they would not submit a legal brief defending the lawfulness of Alvarez’s continued detention.

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The immigrant detention facility operated by the privately owned GEO Group for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Aurora, Colo.(Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The filing prompted Sweeney to convene the Nov. 4 hearing at which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Soler and Kevin Traskos appeared alongside ICE Assistant Field Office Director Nichole Black, who testified under oath about the circumstances surrounding Alvarez’s re-arrest.

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At a Nov. 4 hearing, Sweeney ordered Alvarez be released and barred immigration authorities from detaining him again unless the government demonstrated, by clear and convincing evidence at a bond hearing, that he posed a flight risk or danger to the community.

The government must submit the additional information requested by Sweeney by 8 a.m. Monday, ahead of Rasper’s scheduled court appearance later that morning. The proceedings could shed light on ICE’s compliance with judicial release orders, but Sweeney has not indicated whether she intends to pursue contempt proceedings.

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Dozens of immigrants are detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents inside the Federal Plaza courthouse in New York City on Thursday, June 26, following their legal proceedings. The arrests, which took place shortly after court appearances, have sparked criticism from immigrant rights advocates, who say courthouse enforcement undermines due process and deters community members from seeking legal protection. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)(Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The dispute comes as ICE faces similar legal challenges across Colorado, where other Biden-appointed federal judges, including U.S. District Judges Nina Wang and S. Kato Crews, have presided over cases involving disputes over immigration detention and court-ordered releases.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado for comment.

Elaine Mallon is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business covering national politics.

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