{"id":192,"date":"2025-06-29T11:30:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T11:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/?p=192"},"modified":"2025-07-03T10:18:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T10:18:12","slug":"trumps-ice-targeting-noncriminals-like-the-nursing-student-detained-in-colorado-heres-how-we-know-editorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sleepystork.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/29\/trumps-ice-targeting-noncriminals-like-the-nursing-student-detained-in-colorado-heres-how-we-know-editorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s ICE targeting noncriminals, like the nursing student detained in Colorado, here\u2019s how we know (Editorial)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The apprehension and two-week detention<\/a> of Caroline Dias Goncalves was a waste of federal resources and a violation of human decency.<\/p>\n

Goncalves, a nursing student from the University of Utah, has not been charged with any crime, and because the activities of Trump\u2019s immigration force are shrouded in secrecy, it is unclear whether she has any sort of immigration action pending either.<\/p>\n

We do, however, have video of her initial contact with law enforcement because police officers in Colorado are required to wear and use body cameras.<\/p>\n

The teen was pulled over on Interstate 70 as she drove through Grand Junction on her way to Denver. The Mesa County Sheriff\u2019s deputy<\/a> asked her to come sit in his car with him while he looked up her registration and insurance information, both of which were outdated. But before he let her go back to her car, he asked about her accent and where she was from. We hear absolutely zero accent on the video. \u201cBorn and raised or no?\u201d he asked after she replied Utah. She explains she was born in Brazil.<\/p>\n

The deputy let her off with a warning but then texted all of her information to federal agents on an encrypted Signal chat. Officials picked her up a short time later and brought her to Aurora, where she was held without due process for two weeks until a judge let her out on bail<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“And the moment they realized I spoke English, I saw a change,” Goncalves said in a statement issued<\/a>. “Suddenly, I was treated better than others who didn\u2019t speak English. That broke my heart. Because no one deserves to be treated like that. Not in a country that I\u2019ve called home since I was 7 years old and is all I\u2019ve ever known.\u201d<\/p>\n

In President Donald Trump\u2019s America an undetectable accent and brown skin is enough to get an out-of-state teenager detained in one city, extradited across state without any hearing or due process, held for two weeks in a detention center full of criminals awaiting deportation, fed mushy food, and then let go without any public explanation or transparency.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know Gonclaves’ exact immigration status. According to The Denver Post and the Salt Lake City Tribune, she came as a child with her family on a tourist visa. That would mean she entered the United States sometime around 2013. Given that approximate date, she would not qualify for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, but her parents had filed for asylum, which almost always carries dependent children, too.<\/p>\n

One thing is clear: Trump has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to focus their time and efforts not on criminals who should be deported, but on people like Gonclaves, who are contributing members of our society that make America stronger. He’s come up with arbitrary quotas that we are certain drive this overly aggressive targeting of good people.<\/p>\n

The Washington Post reported concerning data this week<\/a> \u2013 since Trump\u2019s inauguration, the percentage of detained individuals who are convicted or accused criminals has dropped. That means the Trump administration is amping up its efforts to deport people like Gonclaves, who are going to school or working hard.<\/p>\n