11/01/2025
I know many of you have seen the reports about the recent violence in Durango.
It’s been a heartbreaking week for our community. What happened has shaken people across every corner of our town—families, neighbors, and friends alike.
The family taken into custody by ICE—who were here legally—was not separated, thanks to the incredible outpouring of local support. Still, three of their family members were removed from our state and taken to Texas. Their future remains uncertain, and the pain they are enduring is very real.
What makes this story (below) even more devastating is that ICE has since confirmed they were actually searching for a different person. This father, who was simply bringing his two children to school, was detained by mistake. Rather than admit the error, the situation escalated—and with it, the violence.
This is not just a local tragedy; it’s a reflection of a much deeper concern.
When institutions begin acting out of fear and control rather than integrity and compassion, we step onto a path well-documented throughout history. Authoritarian systems often begin by targeting those least able to fight back—immigrants, the poor, the marginalized—but eventually, those same forces turn against anyone who dares to think differently or question power.
Many of us may think, “That could never happen here,” or “It only happens to other people.” But history shows that when we justify harm toward some, it opens the door for harm toward all. What begins far away eventually touches every community, especially when fear and division replace truth and understanding.
And truth itself is getting harder to find. When the flow of honest information becomes distorted—when the loudest voices are fueled by outrage instead of empathy—it becomes easier to feel lost, angry, and helpless. But that’s exactly when our humanity matters most.
The good news is, people everywhere have faced moments like this before—and risen. Across time and place, communities have come together to reclaim compassion, fairness, and freedom. Democracy has always depended not on the powerful, but on the ordinary people who choose connection over separation, courage over comfort, and love over fear.
Now, it’s our turn.
Let’s not allow this tragedy to harden our hearts. Let it open them. Let it remind us that safety and justice are only possible when we extend them to everyone.
If you’re wondering what you can do:
- Get involved locally. Volunteer with organizations supporting families, immigrants, and neighbors in need. Wherever your passions take you get involved in your communities and build connections not division.
- Listen and learn. Ask questions, hear stories, and stay curious about the experiences of others. I know this is hard, yet it is such a powerful way to come together rather than let fear and anger divide us.
- Support local truth-tellers. Follow credible journalism and share accurate information. Learn how to spot mistakes information, bot/AI generated posts, and make sure you are viewing and hearing the opposite messages so algorithms aren't locking you into a cacophony that continues to support your personal biases (in psychology that's called confirmation bias. You see what resonates with you and use it to confirm that your view is there right and just one).
Stay connected. Small acts of kindness and courage ripple outward.
This moment is a mirror asking us who we want to be—as individuals, as a town, and as a nation.
Let’s choose empathy over fear. Let’s choose to be part of the healing rather than part of the hurt.
We are all human. We are all in this together.
And together, we can rise—again.
Here’s the family’s statement, offering their firsthand account of what they went through inside while the events outside the detention center were unfolding on national news—and what has happened since.
STATEMENT FROM
COMPAÑEROS: FOUR CORNERS IMMIGRANT RESOURCE CENTER
Compañeros: Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center is sharing the testimony of the Jaramillo Patiño family,
who describe enduring 36 hours inside what they called a dungeon in the Durango ICE office.
This testimony
comes from their current location in the family detention center in Dilley, Texas.
The family consists of the
father, Fernando Jaramillo Solano, and his two children, Jana Michel Jaramillo Patiño, age 12, and
Kewin Daniel Patiño Bustamante, age 15.
The Jaramillo Patiño family is in the United States under an active
asylum case, which means they have the legal right to remain in the country while that case proceeds, and
they have complied with every requirement of the process, including scheduled check-ins, document
submissions, and legal representation. There was no arrest warrant for Fernando, and there were no
accusations of criminal behavior against any member of the family.
Compañeros can confirm that immigration
agents were seeking another individual entirely and misidentified and detained this family instead.
According to the family, they were held in a small windowless room where the lights remained on at all times.
They were not permitted to step outside and did not see sunlight for the entire 36 hours they were held.
The only toilet available was an open toilet in the same room, offering no privacy. Jana, who is 12 years old, was
held in this space surrounded exclusively by men, without any staff trained to safeguard the rights and
well-being of children, and without the presence of a social worker or a female agent to ensure her safety and
dignity. The family reports that during those 36 hours they were given only potato chips and water.
These conditions reinforce serious concerns that the Durango ICE office is not equipped to detain adults and is
certainly not equipped to detain children.
“They did not put us in a holding room,
” Fernando said.
“They put us in a dungeon. There was no daylight.
There was no air. There was no rest. They gave us potato chips and water. That is all we had. Every time I
asked what would happen to my children, or if they could have something to eat, they hit us. They told me I did
not matter. They told me my children did not matter.
” His voice trembled as he spoke.
The children expressed the same fear. Kewin said he felt tortured and abused by the ICE agents in Durango.
They left his hands swollen and bruised by how tight his handcuffs were. He also said that each time his father
asked what would happen to them, the agents would beat him too.
Jana, crying over the phone, shared that at
one point she heard the voices of the community outside.
“I heard the song you told the crowd to play. I heard
the song, Mommy.
” Kewin, bruised and scraped from the treatment he endured, asked his mother in confusion,
“Why, Mom? What did we do? Why are we being treated like this?”
The family says that inside the Durango ICE office they were told that the children would be separated from
their father, and witnesses outside also saw preparations to separate them.
Today we can confirm that the
father remained with his two children the entire time. Although the separation did not occur, the family believes
it was the presence of the community that prevented it, and they want to express their profound gratitude.
The father later told his wife, asking her forgiveness for not being able to protect the children in the way he
wished, saying,
“My love, I did everything I could to protect them, but they beat me. I have bruises all over my
body. I did everything I could to take care of them, but I could not.
” His words were filled with helplessness and
deep sadness.
\“We were tortured. We did not see sunlight. The three of us were confined in a tiny cell, with no food, and with
our hands, waist, and feet shackled. We were devastated. But when they finally took us outside and we saw all
the people supporting us, we felt strength return.
That sight filled me with hope and gave me the courage to
keep going. From inside the black car, I tried to wave to everyone to say thank you, so many thanks, but I do
not think anyone saw us. I am deeply grateful for every person who stood with us. I never could have imagined
that kind of support,
” Fernando said.
Compañeros and many others want to recognize the hundreds of community members who gathered outside
the ICE office: immigrant families, neighbors, teachers, students, workers still in uniform, elders sitting in chairs
wrapped in blankets, and children holding signs.
People drove in from pueblos, reservations, and towns across
Southwest Colorado. They stayed through the night. They prayed. They sang. They refused to leave.
The family also wanted to thank the demonstrators for something deeply meaningful: finding a way to play
Jana’s favorite song in one of the worst moments of her life. In that moment, she felt joy. She felt her mother’s
love. She felt held by her community. Thank you for giving her that light in the darkness.
Once in Dilley, Texas, the treatment changed. The family shared that officers there loosened the handcuffs,
asked if the children were hungry, and gave them food and water.
Compañeros emphasizes that this detail is
not shared to praise ICE, but to demonstrate the severity and unnecessary nature of the suffering in Durango.
The contrast makes clear that cruelty is not automatic. Cruelty is a decision. What happened in Durango was
cruelty.
The father and his two children are now at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.
They are together, but without their mother. They are not safe. Their conditions are still harsh. Their future remains
uncertain. This facility remains a detention center. The children are still living with fear.
The trauma they endured in Durango did not end when they left. Their asylum case continues, and their well-being remains at
risk every day they are detained.
To everyone who watched, who cried, who prayed, who showed up, who made food, who held Estella Patiño
while she waited for word, who stood in the cold, who held the line, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
To those who have not yet joined us, the time to join is now. Not later. Now.
And to the Republican leadership who currently hold the power to intervene in this case, we speak to you
directly and with respect: This is not about party. This is not about political debate. This is not about
immigration policy. These are children experiencing state sanctioned violence and trauma. They were held in a
dark makeshift cell in Durango, and they remain in danger today. You have the power to help reunite this family
in safety. We ask you to use it.
We urge our Republican elected officials, Rep. Jeff Hurd, Rep. Gabe Evans, and State Sen. Cleave
Simpson, to utilize their full political power and resources to ask their party colleagues and ICE to grant parole
and ensure this family is released tday.
While we recognize that parole is granted at the discretion of ICE, we emphasize that this family can be
released at any moment if ICE so chooses. The father and his two children pose no danger to society, and we
are confident they do not intend to flee from the authorities.
We call upon every human being to urge their political representatives (from both sides) to ask ICE to
grant this family parole and ensure they are released today.
Finally, we emphasize that Fernando Jaramillo Solano has no criminal record, and neither of his children has
ever been involved in any criminal matters. They are believers in
God, respectful of the laws, and are active,
valued members of our community, where we recognize their significant contributions.
It is time to bring them home.
