More than 100 people detained during a Sunday raid of an illegal Colorado Springs nightclub remain in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Tuesday.
ICE did not respond to requests for comment from The Denver Post, but an unidentified spokesperson told CBS Colorado that the number of detainees had dropped from 114 to 105.
The agency did not explain why that number dropped or specify if those nine people had been released.
At least two other people were arrested by Colorado Springs officers during the raid, police department spokesperson Ira Cronin said.
Cronin said one was arrested on a warrant for failing to appear in Adams County Court and the other had a warrant out for their arrest for third-degree assault, criminal mischief and child abuse.
“The investigation into activity at the underground club is continuing, as we anticipate there will be more arrests made in the future tied to criminal activity at this location,” Cronin said.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said deputies did not arrest anyone and were there to assist other agencies.
Local law enforcement received numerous 911 calls from people in the area about shootings outside the club, drug trafficking and overdoses during the months-long investigation leading up to the raid, said Jonathan Pullen, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division, in a Monday evening interview with NewsNation.
Pullen called the club a “den of iniquity.” He said it had moved between multiple Colorado Springs addresses, but had been inside the building raided Sunday for several months.
The club was put on the DEA’s radar, and agents started conducting surveillance and undercover work when it entered the building at 296 South Academy, he said.
Immigrants from Guatemala, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua, Chile and Honduras were all inside the nightclub when it was raided, Pullen said.
While agents reportedly saw members of the Tren de Aragua, MS-13 and Hell’s Angels gangs frequent the Colorado Springs club, it’s unclear whether any were inside during the Sunday operation, Pullen said.
Pullen said undercover agents saw prostitution, drug trafficking and “crimes of violence” inside the building — crimes that multiple active duty military members who were found inside the nightclub when it was raided were allegedly involved in.
U.S. Army investigating presence of service members
The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is working with the DEA to investigate the military members involved, but declined to release additional information Monday, citing the ongoing investigation.
Pullen told NewsNation that 17 military members were inside the club. It remains unclear how many were working security and how many were patrons.
At least some of the military members were stationed at Fort Carson south of Colorado Springs, an unidentified spokesperson for the Army base confirmed Tuesday.
“We acknowledge that there were some Fort Carson service members present at the location during the operation,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement to The Post. “Each person involved in this incident is presumed innocent until proven guilty. We will look at everyone’s situation on a case-by-case basis.”
During military investigations, a service member’s conduct is judged against the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a set of rules that applies to all U.S. military branches and personnel. Violations of that code are considered crimes by military standards.
More than 114 people were detained by federal immigration officials inside an illegal Colorado Springs nightclub early Sunday morning, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. (Photo courtesy of the DEA).Activists, local Democrats push back
Local activists with the Colorado Springs People’s Coalition condemned the raid in a statement on social media and called on ICE to release the names of all 114 people detained.
The group plans to gather at 27 E. Vermijo Ave., outside of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado Springs, at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to protest against the raid.
“We will not sit idly by as our city and county law enforcement collaborate with federal agencies to detain and deport our parents, siblings, partners and children,” the group stated. “When immigrant rights are under attack, we fight back!”
The El Paso County Democratic Party also spoke out against the raid. Party leaders said in a statement they were concerned about public comments made by Mayor Yemi Mobolade and the El Paso County Board of Commissioners about the raid.
“City and county leadership failed their constituents by refusing to call for restraint, compassion or due process for the very residents they represent,” party officials said in the statement. “At a time when U.S. residents are being wrongly detained by ICE and subjected to brutal prison conditions in countries like El Salvador, it is especially shocking to see our city and county governments provide cover for rogue police forces by publicly praising them.”
Party officials said they stand in solidarity with local and state immigration rights groups and are “currently engaged in consultations to determine how we can best support ongoing legal efforts to defend due process and protect the rights and safety of all our residents.”
Sheriffs supports immigration crackdown
In addition to Mobolade and the Board of Commissioners, multiple law enforcement agencies involved in the Sunday raid spoke out in support of the operation.
“I am committed to the safety of our citizens. My office will continue working with our federal partners to ensure dangerous criminals… are held accountable,” El Paso County Sheriff Joseph Roybal said in a statement on social media.
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White House focuses on border crackdown as it marks 100 days for Trump’s second term As immigrant arrests surge, complaints of abuse mount at America’s oldest detention center in Miami Fears of racial profiling swirl over registration policy for immigrants in the US illegally ICE is reversing the termination of legal status for international students around the US How the public’s shift on immigration paved the way for Trump’s crackdownDouglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said that Colorado, without question, is “a hub for illegal immigration,” pointing to Denver’s policies that limit its cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agencies and “radical legislation” from the state legislature.
President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order targeting states and cities “that obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
Though the order doesn’t name Denver, it directs government officials to publish lists of “sanctuary city” jurisdictions, or places where local authorities often don’t cooperate in enforcing federal immigration regulations, according to the Associated Press. Those places will then be punished by losses in funding, grants and contracts, according to the order.
The Trump administration has already rescinded about $24 million in federal grants from Denver that were intended to cover what the city has already spent to shelter migrants between 2022 and 2024, including many sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency previously awarded Denver $32 million but has only sent $8 million. According to a letter obtained by The Post, it plans to leave the other $24 million unfulfilled.
It’s unclear if federal officials will also require Denver to return the $8 million already received.
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