Two ICE detainees escaped Colorado facility during outage

Two detainees escaped from a Colorado detention facility during a power outage earlier this week. The escape happened at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora on Tuesday night. The two men are Geilond Vido-Romero, 24, and Joel Jose Gonzalez-Gonzalez, 32. The power went out around 9:30 p.m. on March 18, which opened the back doors to a soccer field. This gave the detainees an opportunity to flee. Staff discovered they were missing during an emergency count an hour later. ICE announced that local authorities were notified immediately, but they declined to help with the search. Aurora police only learned about the escape several hours later. They stated they could not assist in large-scale searches as they do not enforce federal immigration laws. The two men were last seen wearing orange long-sleeved shirts, beige pants, and black Crocs. Both are undocumented immigrants. Vido-Romero entered the U.S. through Texas in December 2023. He was trying to avoid deportation after an immigration judge ordered his removal in February. Gonzalez-Gonzalez has been in the U.S. since February 2013 and violated his admission conditions. He was also being held on local charges before being detained by ICE. Police in Aurora are ready to help apprehend the men if they confirm they are in the city. Other local law enforcement agencies were not informed by ICE about the escape. The detention center has faced protests recently concerning immigration policies and practices.