After receiving no response the first time, Colorado Democrats in Congress on Tuesday again demanded that fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem answer questions about an investigation into ace of spades “death cards” left behind after immigration arrests in Eagle County.
The cards, used throughout history to intimidate people of color, were left in vehicles of people taken by ICE agents Jan. 21 near Minturn after what local immigrant advocates called “fake traffic stops.”
Family and friends of several men who were detained that day found the cards, printed with the address and phone number of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Aurora, after the cars were left behind on the highway.
U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, along with U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse, Diana DeGette, Jason Crow and Brittany Pettersen had requested an independent and transparent investigation into the cards on Feb. 3.
The lawmakers had asked, by Feb. 13, for “a formal and detailed briefing on ICE activities in Eagle County,” along with a written report. They also asked for an independent investigation by the Office of Inspector General into the activities of the Denver field office, which oversees ICE activity in Eagle County, and “written confirmation of any disciplinary or corrective actions taken.”
The lawmakers said they had not received a response to those questions and were told by DHS that the investigation into the cards has been “passed between multiple offices,” from the DHS Office of Inspector General to the Office of Professional Responsibility, which assigned the investigation to a field office.
This time, they are asking Noem to respond before her last day at the Department of Homeland Security, which is March 31.
The lawmakers want to know which field office is overseeing the investigation, saying that the department’s refusal to say “raises serious concerns about transparency and possible conflicts of interest.” They want written confirmation of “any disciplinary or corrective actions taken,” they said.
“We remain deeply concerned by the allegations that federal agents were falsely acting as local law enforcement and that the ace of spades, long known as the ‘death card,’ was used to intimidate Latino communities,” the lawmakers wrote to DHS. “While the investigation is ongoing, we request a formal, detailed briefing on ICE activities in Eagle County, to include information on the field office that is conducting the investigation.”
Voces Unidas, a nonprofit based in Glenwood Springs, said nine men were taken by ICE agents that morning, eight of them in traffic stops. Agents stuck sirens to their vehicles, despite not having authority to impose traffic laws, to make the men think they were being pulled over by local law enforcement, the nonprofit said.
Two days after the cards were found, DHS promised a “thorough investigation” and to take “appropriate and swift action.”
Noem was fired by President Donald Trump last week after she testified during a congressional hearing that included questions about her $220 million advertising campaign against illegal immigration.
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