DENVER – The husband of Ingrid LaTorre, a Colorado woman facing deportation who is currently taking refuge in a Boulder church, has been arrested by immigration officers.
Eliseo Jurado-Fernandez, 30, was taken into custody on Thursday. He entered the country illegally in 2004.
Jurado-Fernandez’s wife, Ingrid LaTorre, found herself front and center in the national immigration debate when she first sought sanctuary in a Fort Collins church in 2016. For the past month, she’s been staying at a church in Boulder.
LaTorre spoke publicly through an interpreter Thursday night, saying her husband went to the grocery store earlier that day and was picked up by six ICE agents there. She believes Jurado-Fernandez’s arrest is a personal attack against her.
In a statement provided to Denver7, ICE Field Office Director Jeffrey Lynch admitted that Jurado-Fernandez came to their attention through the agency’s investigation into LaTorre but that he was ultimately targeted for arrest due to his criminal background:
“ICE targeted Eliseo Jurado-Fernandez for arrest after he came to ICE’s attention during an investigation into his spouse, Ingrid Encalada Latorre, from Peru, who is also illegally present in the United States. Jurado-Fernandez has numerous criminal convictions, in addition to illegally entering the United States, which is also a crime. Contrary to misguided speculation, ICE did not target Jurado-Fernandez in retaliation for Encalada Latorre taking sanctuary from deportation in a Colorado church. In accordance with its critical public safety mission, ICE targets criminal aliens whenever and however they come to our attention.”
According to ICE, Jurado-Fernandez was convicted in 2007 of driving while ability impaired in Adams County and also has three misdemeanor convictions.