WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, along with U.S. Representatives Brittany Pettersen, Joe Neguse, Jason Crow, and Diana DeGette, pressed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons for answers following alarming reports that ICE is secretly holding individuals at Colorado ICE field offices for days — sometimes weeks — in small holding cells designed to be used for only a few hours without proper facilities.
The lawmakers said: “We write to express our deep concern regarding reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) expanding its detention capacity in Colorado by keeping detained individuals in “holding cells” in ICE field offices for days at a time. Detaining people for extended periods of time in small, confined rooms that are meant to be a temporary holding space goes against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy, and we demand these actions stop immediately.”
“In recent weeks, there have been growing reports of ICE keeping detained individuals in holding cells within ICE field offices, which don’t have beds or adequate resources for long-term detention…We are deeply concerned about the reports that ICE kept an individual in the holding cells for as long as 39 days – well beyond the three-day limit established by the DHS in June, which we also view as unacceptable,” the lawmakers continued.
According to information obtained by the Data Deportation Project through a Freedom of Information Act request, more than 3,000 individuals were held in ICE hold rooms in Colorado between January and October 2025. Reports indicate that detainees ranged in age from as young as one year old to as old as 91, with some confined in these temporary holding spaces for as long as 39 days.
Hickenlooper has been outspoken in the face of ICE’s lawlessness and demanded a top-to-bottom overhaul of the agency to stop ICE from terrorizing our communities. Hickenlooper also voted against the DHS funding bill because it failed to overhaul ICE. He has consistently pushed for more oversight and transparency for federal immigration enforcement efforts, and has worked to help families desperately searching for loved ones arrested by ICE.
Hickenlooper also joined Representative Pettersen and Senator Bennet demanding DHS abandon its plans to open a new ICE facility in Hudson, Colorado.
The full text of the letter can be found HERE and below:
Dear Acting Director Lyons:
We write to express our deep concern regarding reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) expanding its detention capacity in Colorado by keeping detained individuals in “holding cells” in ICE field offices for days at a time. Detaining people for extended periods of time in small, confined rooms that are meant to be a temporary holding space goes against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy, and we demand these actions stop immediately.
In recent weeks, there have been growing reports of ICE keeping detained individuals in holding cells within ICE field offices, which don’t have beds or adequate resources for long-term detention. Reporting indicates that an individual was kept in these rooms for as long as 39 days. According to data obtained by the Deportation Data Project through the Freedom of Information Act, between January and October 2025, more than 3,000 individuals were held in these locations.
DHS has recognized the safety risks of keeping individuals in these holding cells for extended periods of time. Prior to June 2025, ICE did not allow individuals to be left in these holding cells for more than 12 hours. In June, an internal policy was updated to allow individuals to be held for up to three days. We are deeply concerned about the reports that ICE kept an individual in the holding cells for as long as 39 days – well beyond the three-day limit established by the DHS in June, which we also view as unacceptable.
We strongly oppose the practice of detaining individuals for more than 12 hours in holding cells and demand your response to the following questions by March 27th.
- Is ICE keeping individuals in holding cells in ICE field offices for more than 12 hours at a time? If so, please provide:
- The number of individuals who have been detained in a holding cell for more than 12 hours,
- The countries of origin of those individuals,
- The locations they were held at,
- The length of time that those individuals were in a holding cell, and
- If any US citizens were among those detained in the holding cells.
- If individuals are being held in ICE field office holding cells for more than 12 hours, what safety precautions are being taken to ensure that the detainee’s nutritional, medical, and hygiene needs are being met? Please provide the record logs of when agents supplied food, water, and any necessary hygiene and medical assistance to individuals detained for more than 12 hours.
- When an individual is held in a holding cell, what documentation procedures does ICE follow to ensure that the detainee’s location is tracked?
- When an individual is held in a holding cell, how does ICE ensure that their legal representation can access them?
- Have any individuals in ICE custody in Colorado been held in a location that is not the Aurora Detention Facility or an ICE Field Office in Colorado? If yes, please provide the number of individuals held, the locations of the warehouses where individuals were held, and a copy of the contracts that ICE has with those locations.
- Under Colorado HB23-1100, local government entities are authorized to provide health and safety resources and sanitation services to individuals held in detention. How is ICE ensuring that holding cells in field offices comply with local public health and environmental codes? Specifically, what is the protocol for allowing County Health Departments to conduct inspections for sanitation, food safety, and infectious disease control at these locations?
Sincerley,
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