A Colorado nonprofit that helps immigrants in mountain towns says that after several men were detained by ICE during “fake traffic stops” this week in Eagle County ominous ace of spades cards were left behind in their empty vehicles.
Family and friends who went to retrieve the vehicles, left abandoned on Highway 6, found the cards, which were printed with contact information for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Aurora.
Ace of spades cards, which have been used by white supremacist groups as a racist symbol and were called “death cards” by some during the Vietnam War, were found in at least two vehicles after those vehicles were pulled over by ICE agents, according to Voces Unidas, a nonprofit based in Glenwood Springs.
Nine people were taken into ICE custody during the targeted action Wednesday, including eight people taken after four traffic stops and one person who was walking to a bus stop in Avon, said Alex Sánchez, president and CEO of Voces Unidas.
ICE officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment but said Friday that they were researching the question.
The nine people were taken to the ICE detention center in Aurora, said Sánchez, and Voces Unidas is funding their legal representation. The vehicles were left abandoned after the traffic stops, and family members and friends who went to retrieve them found the ace of spades cards, Sánchez said.
“The families were asking questions about what this means: ‘Is this a business card?’” he said. “What we know is that it is a racist symbol. It comes from an evil place.”
ICE agents in unmarked vehicles with attached sirens pulled over three vehicles Wednesday morning along Highway 6 near the Minturn exit, he said. A fourth traffic stop occurred near the Route 6 Cafe in Eagle-Vail.
“When you are followed and sirens are going off, it feels and looks and resembles local police,” Sánchez said. “Every single time we speak to someone they say, ‘It looked like a police officer. We stopped because we thought we were compelled by law.’”
“This is done to trick people to believe they are local police officers. If they knew it was the federal government, which does not have jurisdiction over state traffic laws, they would not stop.”
Voces Unidas has documented 120 detentions in western Colorado since January 2025, including in Eagle, Steamboat Springs, Glenwood Springs, Frisco and Grand Junction. Two to five detentions per week are typical, and occasionally, nine or 10, the organization said. About half of the detentions have occurred during traffic stops, while others have happened at homes, job sites and in or outside jails, according to the nonprofit.
This week, using eyewitness accounts, videos and photos, Voces Unidas confirmed 10 ICE vehicles conducting targeted arrests in Summit, Eagle and Garfield counties. The agents appear to be looking for specific people, not conducting raids, Sánchez said. Attorneys are still looking into the cases of those detained Wednesday and Sánchez said he did not know whether any of the nine men had criminal charges.
“This is a live operation,” Sánchez said. “They are still in our communities today.”
Of the nine men, one was from Mexico and the rest were from Central and South America, including Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru.
The cards included the words “Denver Field Office” and had the address and phone number for the ICE detention center in Aurora.