ICE deportations are derailing criminal prosecutions

COLORADO The deportation effectively ended the state’s criminal case against Castillo — the prosecution cannot continue without his presence in court, though he remains wanted on a warrant and could be prosecuted if he were to return to Colorado. There was no conviction, no sentence, no jail time — just a deportation

- Shelly Bradbury, Tribune News Service

"Clerk notified via email that deft" - the defendant - "has been removed from the country," Chief Judge Jeffrey Pilkington wrote in a May 19 order.

The deportation effectively ended the state's criminal case against Castillo - the prosecution cannot continue without his presence in court, though he remains wanted on a warrant and could be prosecuted if he were to return to Colorado. There was no conviction, no sentence, no jail time just a deportation.

“It’s been pretty hard on me and my daughter,” JE said. “She doesn't feel like she is getting the justice she deserves. It just has been so easy for immigrants to come into the country after they are deported. So the fear is that he might relocate somewhere else in the US and do this to someone else. Them deporting him ruined justice for my daughter.” At least two dozen defendants and one witness in criminal cases in metro Denver have been taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deported in the middle of ongoing state prosecutions since September, The Denver Post found. District attorneys across the region started to notice more defendants disappearing into ICE custody this spring, as President Donald Trump ramped up deportations nationwide.