A university student in Utah has landed in immigration detention after a seemingly routine traffic stop, thanks to a slip-up in a law enforcement group chat that’s now sparking outrage.
Caroline Dias Goncalves, 19, moved to the U.S. from Brazil with her family back in 2012 and had been quietly living her life in Utah. But her world turned upside down earlier this month after she was pulled over in Grand Junction, Colorado, on what appeared to be a minor traffic issue.
Bodycam footage shows the Mesa County Sheriff’s deputy, Investigator Alexander Zwinck, telling Caroline she was driving too closely to a lorry. The exchange seemed low-key, with Caroline chatting about her time at the University of Utah and plans to start nursing school in the spring. The stop ended with a warning and the officer telling her to “take it easy.”
But she barely had time to drive away before Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers swept in, arrested her, and took her to a detention centre in Colorado. She’s now being held at the Denver Contract Detention Facility.
The twist? It turns out her information was shared in a Signal group chat used by law enforcement officers — including ICE agents. The chat was supposed to be for coordinating drug interdiction efforts, but ICE was reportedly using it to gather information for immigration enforcement.
According to NBC News, the group included local, state, and federal officers working together in western Colorado. The messaging app, Signal, has made headlines before, particularly when top security officials were caught discussing military operations in a chat that a journalist was accidentally added to.
The sheriff’s office has since admitted they weren’t aware ICE was using the group for anything beyond drug enforcement. “We have since removed all Mesa County Sheriff’s Office members from the communication group,” they told Fox 13 Salt Lake City. Their internal investigation confirmed that ICE had been accessing details from the chat, which goes against Colorado law.
While the state doesn’t completely ban local cooperation with federal immigration agencies, it does have strict limits — and this case seems to brush up hard against those.
Caroline is part of the 2.5 million “Dreamers” — undocumented young people brought to the U.S. as children. Her family originally entered the U.S. on a tourist visa but overstayed due to safety concerns in Brazil. Three years ago, they applied for asylum, which gave them work permits and limited driver’s licences.
Friends and family describe her as someone who’s done everything right. She’s been working, studying on a merit scholarship, and staying out of trouble. A GoFundMe set up in her name says she’s “unlawfully detained, frightened and far from the safety and support she deserves.”
Loved ones told The Salt Lake Tribune that she’s being held with 17 other women in harsh conditions — the food is said to be “inedible,” and the staff aren’t exactly gentle.
Her case echoes that of another 19-year-old Dreamer, Ximena Arias-Cristobal, who was also detained recently after a traffic stop in Georgia. Arias-Cristobal is now speaking out about how even model students like her and Caroline are at risk, especially as U.S. immigration enforcement appears to be ramping up efforts despite earlier claims that only criminals would be targeted.