An escape incident at Aurora immigration detention in Colorado resulted in a disagreement between ICE and local police forces. The power outage at detention resulted in two detainees' escape while officials of ICE and local law enforcement provided contradictory details about the response approaches.
The Escape Incident
On March 18, 2025 at night the power system at The GEO Group facility which operates under ICE contract failed throughout the Aurora ICE detention center. The facility power outage resulted in the release of Mexico national Joel Jose Gonzalez-Gonzalez and Venezuelan citizen Vido Romero Gueilond-Jose through security doors that became unlocked.
Timeline of Events
Power failure in the Aurora ICE detention facility occurred at 9:30 p.m. (Tuesday) leading to a facility-wide emergency count process.
At 12:30 a.m. Wednesday the facility headcount revealed that two detainees were absent.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials contact Aurora Police Department personnel about the detainees who escaped at 2:30 a.m.
Conflicting Claims
ICE claims they immediately notified local authorities who refused to participate in looking for the escaped detainees. Aurora police received news of the escape four hours later due to their assessment that the situation had turned into a cold case by that point. The APD stressed two key points about municipal enforcement – first, their agency rejects federal immigration law enforcement responsibilities; second, state regulations no longer allow civil detention assistance.
Apprehension of One Escapee
The Adams County Sheriff's Office located Gonzalez-Gonzalez near the detention center perimeter at approximatley 4:30 a.m. on March 21, 2025 approximately 12 miles away. The deputy noticed Gonzalez-Gonzalez behaving strangely because of which authorities confirmed his participation in the escape. Since 2013 Gonzalez-Gonzalez stayed in the United States while facing immigration hearings at ICE facility detention.
Ongoing Search
As of the current status Gueilond-Jose is still missing from capture. The authorities detained Gueilond-Jose in February 2025 before they started the process towards deporting him to Venezuela. The Authorities maintain active search operations for Gueilond-Jose with a request to the public for reporting possible sightings.
Conclusion
The event demonstrates the difficulty of communication between federal agencies and local law enforcement units during immigration control operations that impact community safety. The slow emergency communication and separate protocols for response created doubts about current emergency communication systems and crisis reaction approaches.