Masked immigration officers make arrests near Steamboat Springs while live on Facebook
- Dylan Anderson
- Aug 12
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 13
Two men were arrested on the property of Alpine Mountain Ranch and Club by Enforcement and Removal Agents saying they were conducting a “Federal Investigation.”
Editor's Note: This Story was updated at 4:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. Read a follow up story published Aug. 13 here. Federal Agents in masks arrested at least two men as part of a traffic stop on the property of Alpine Mountain Ranch near Steamboat Springs on Tuesday, just after 7 a.m., according to a video of the arrests live-streamed on Facebook Live.
About a minute into the video posted by Roberto Hernandez, multiple agents wearing the letters “ERO” on their chests can be seen around a vehicle they had presumably just pulled over. ERO stands for Enforcement and Removal Operations, a component of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE.
The video shows the stop happening shortly after the U.S. 40 entrance to Alpine Mountain Ranch south of Steamboat Springs. In the video, Hernandez walks around the scene of the stop, at times complying with commands from the federal officers to back away from the scene.
“Why are you doing all this kidnapping, man?” he asks the agents as they work to remove a man in a red shirt from a tan colored SUV in the video. “This is kidnapping.”
When agents remove the man from the vehicle, several of them get on top of the man as they work to put handcuffs on him.
“Why are you guys doing that? Why are you guys doing that?” Hernandez continues in the video as the officers take the man to the ground. “You guys are three guys.”
“We’re going to arrest you, we’re going to arrest you too,” one agent can be seen saying in the video, as he moves Hernandez further from the scene. “For impeding a federal investigation,” the agent said, in response to a question from Hernandez about why they would arrest him.
In response to questions from The Yampa Valley Bugle on Tuesday, Steve Kotecki, a spokesperson with ICE based in Denver, did not provide specifics about actions in Steamboat Springs.
“ICE is conducting routine law enforcement operations across the nation on a daily basis,” Kotecki said. “Due to our operational tempo and increased interest in our mission, we are not able to research every arrest.”
When asked how to find out about who was arrested Tuesday, Kotecki responded to say that "ICE does not release information on those arrested unless we are provided with their name, alien registration number, date of birth and country of origin."
Routt County Commissioner Angelica Salinas said ICE’s lack of transparency about its actions is a serious concern.
“The lack of transparency is what is driving a lot of this fear and uncertainty and I am very concerned about ICE’s lack of transparency,” Salinas said. “I don’t think that this the way that enforcement should work in our country.”
Local non-profit Integrated Community shared the video on its Facebook page Tuesday, adding that its mission is to support immigrant communities and sharing a link about immigrant rights.
“We share this link so that community members are aware of the activity of the immigration authorities and can stay informed about their rights,” the post reads. “If you see activity of the migration authorities, you have the right to record in public spaces and to remain silent if you ask questions.”
"I didn't know anything about it until I received some text messages of some of the photos of what happened today," said Routt County Sheriff Doug Scherer on Tuesday. "We had absolutely no prior knowledge and absolutely no participation."
Steamboat Springs Police Chief Mark Beckett said Tuesday afternoon he was still working to understand what exactly had happened, and his Department had no prior knowledge of any planned immigration enforcement on Tuesday. He said he did not know who was arrested.
“We’ve known that this was serious and, like many rural communities, hoped that it would take longer for the federal government’s attention to come to the small mountain communities,” Beckett said. “It appears that that’s not happening, and it is happening faster than we thought.”
Beckett reiterated that his police officers will not cooperate with any federal immigration actions. He said it was important that his department works to maintain trust with vulnerable communities.
“We certainly will not cooperate with any federal efforts as I have said many times,” Beckett said. “We have no ability to intervene with them either.”
When reached on Tuesday, the property manager at Alpine Mountain Ranch confirmed the action had taken place on the property, noting that the gates to the community are open at 6:45 a.m.
“No, I did not receive any notice,” the manager said when asked if they had been alerted to any action on their property.
Immigration actions have been frequent in the Denver Metro area this year, but have yet to be seen in a rural ski town like Steamboat Springs. ICE said the agency arrested 243 people in the Denver Metro between July 12 and July 20, according to a press release from ICE. The agency has not posted any information about arrests in Steamboat on Tuesday. Salinas said she has received numerous calls from constituents on Tuesday in tears.
“I’ve heard from multiple people that they are scared to send their kids to school starting Monday,” Salinas said. “We’ve got school starting Monday and that is just devastating to hear. It brought me to tears to hear that we have people in this community who are scared to send their kids to school.”
