Teller Co. Sheriff talks illegal immigrant arrests, his new bill & ICE finding man tied to homicide case

TELLER COUNTY, Colo (KRDO) - Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell says his agency just recently arrested four undocumented immigrants from South America and identified a person of interest in a nearly two-year-old homicide case in the county. He says it's all thanks to Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and wants to change state law to make it easier for local agencies to curb immigrant crimes.

Mikesell held a press conference from the Teller County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) on Friday morning. This same week he spoke to KRDO13 Investigates and hinted at the arrests that had taken place by his agency and discussed the state of immigration policy and enforcement in Colorado.

"We are dealing with foreign nationals and criminal and illegal aliens within our county," Mikesell stated confidently on Friday morning.

It comes amidst several executive orders from President Donald Trump this week that vastly changed the immigration enforcement landscape at the southern border and nationwide.

Mikesell explains that they are now looking for 32-year-old Louis Eduardo Sanchez Chavez and said he's connected to a body that was discovered along Highway 67 in Teller County in March 2023.

21-year-old Eduardo "Lalo" Castaneda was identified as the victim in that case days later.

Chavez can be seen in this photo below, which was shared at the press conference Friday.

32-year-old Louis Chavez's last known address was at 217 S. 13th Street in Colorado Springs. If you have any information or know of his whereabouts, you're encouraged to contact the Teller County Sheriff's Office.

As for the four undocumented immigrants that were arrested, Sheriff Mikesell said that three of them were Venezuelan and one was Columbian.

Three were charged with forgery of documents that were submitted to the Teller County Clerk and caught by employees. One of the men had two Federal Transit Association (FTA) warrants for no insurance and no registration on a vehicle, as well as larceny out of the Aurora and Lakewood areas.

Identified in the photo above from left to right is: Jorge Alexander Cardona, Gregori Gonzalez Hernandez, Jose Gregorio Rodriguez, and Jaidy Andreina Rondo Paez.

"If you're going to commit a crime, you should not be here in this state," Mikesell stated.

The Sheriff explained, however, that his agency can only be so proactive when it comes to acting on that message. As it currently stands, Colorado law prohibits local law enforcement agencies from detaining or arresting people based on their immigration status, unless they're cooperating with a federal investigation.

"Colorado law does not stop me from doing an investigation with ICE, right? I think it was a perception of the law that did [make agencies think] so. Now, the other side of that, though, it does stop us in holding detainers. So that means I can't hold someone and then turn them over to ICE on just a detainer," Mikesell explained.

It's for that reason that ICE had to show there was a legitimate investigation into the four individuals in Teller County, in addition to sharing their information on Chavez as a person of interest before the TCSO could act.

"In the past, without being able to work with ICE, this is a person we would not be able to locate," Mikesell said about Chavez. "Previously, since this person is illegally in the United States, at some point, I'm really not supposed to talk to them, right, so now with [ICE's] assistance,  we're going to find this person," he added later.

The sheriff, as well as District 5 Republican Congressman Jeff Crank both carved out time within the press conference to express their distaste with Colorado law and the state of immigration enforcement.

"There's a lot of rhetoric at the state capitol about these people, [saying they] aren't doing anything wrong. We don't have these issues. We don't have a Venezuelan problem. We don't have gang issues in the state of Colorado. I'm here to tell you today that we do" Miksell stated, before turning it over to Crank to share his thoughts.

"There's a very clear message sent in November here in Colorado and across the country. And that message was we want the border crisis solved. We're tired of the crime and we want it fixed," Crank said about the desire for Governor Jared Polis to repeal multiple laws that have inhibited local law enforcement efforts to curb the number of undocumented criminals in the state.

One way the Sheriff is looking to counter those gripes once and for all is through a new Senate Bill 25-047, which was drafted with the help of El Paso County Sheriff Joseph Roybal, and Senator Mark Baisley.

The bill asks that Senate Bill 06-090, which was signed in 2006, and repealed in 2013, be reinstated. The bill read as follows:

• Prohibited a local government from passing any ordinance that would prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with federal officials with regard to immigration status of a person in the state;
• Required a peace officer who had probably cause to believe that a person is not legally present in the U.S to report that person to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office;
• Required each local government to provide notice to peace officers of the duty to report and to provide written confirmation of the notice and reporting statistics to the general assembly; and
• Prohibited a local government that violates this provision from receiving any grants administered by the Department of Local Affairs.

The Sheriffs new bill would repeal the current state laws that prohibit the following:

• A person from being arrested while the person is present at a courthouse, or while going to, attending, or coming from a court proceeding, and provides remedies for a violation;
• A probation officer or probation department employee from providing personal information about an individual to federal immigration authorities; and
• State and local government entities from contracting with a private entity for immigration detention services or entering into agreements for immigration detention services.

While the bill is in its very early stages, the Sheriff has had a more unique situation compared to other agencies in the state over the last several years. Since 2019, Mikesell has had what is called a '287 G Agreement' with ICE. He's been the only Sheriff's office in Colorado with an agreement like it.

It allows his agency to house suspected illegal immigrants in jail, essentially acting as an extension of ICE. Mikesell has previously explained to KRDO13 Investigates that the agreement turns his Sheriff's deputy into a federally acting officer while carrying out those duties.

But in recent years, Mikesell was sued over the agreement twice. The first lawsuit brought forth by the ACLU was settled in District court, where a judge in Cripple Creek deemed the Sheriff was working within his legal rights. The second case then came in the Colorado State Court of Appeals.

Ultimately, that Court ruled he was no longer allowed to make arrests -- but was shown to be following Colorado law otherwise.

Sheriff Mikesell says the four arrests of undocumented immigrants are not the only ones to be expected by his office, and he hopes to partner more with ICE to keep the community as safe as possible.

"If ICE is conducting an investigation in Teller County where they need our assistance, I will gladly give our deputies for that assistance if they request that assistance through us. They're always going to get it," he stated.