Fifth grade teacher in Colorado detained by ICE along with family, says school
A charter school in Douglas County, southeast of Denver, says it is scrambling to staff a 5th-grade classroom after its teacher was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents over the weekend. A staff member says the educator's abrupt absence posed "unique challenges."
The educator was in her first full year of teaching at Global Village Academy in Parker, after previously working there as a substitute, said staff, who did not provide the teacher's name.
"We are aware of the situation involving one of our teachers who, along with her family members including minor children, were detained by Immigration & Customs Enforcement and transferred to an ICE detention facility in Texas over the weekend," Global Village Academy said in a statement.
After the initial publication of this story, an ICE spokesperson said the teacher is from Peru and entered the U.S. on Dec. 2, 2022, near Yuma, Arizona, where she was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. She was later released on her own recognizance.
Global Village Academy said it is in compliance with the law and that the teacher was authorized to work. Their statement further said, "While the school is not enrolled in the voluntary E-Verify program, our organization completes I-9 Employment Verification forms and inspects required employment authorization documentation for all employees, as required by federal law. We also conduct a Colorado Bureau of Investigations background check for all our school employees, including this individual. We completed both the I-9 verification process and CBI background check with this employee, as required by law. This employee has a valid employment authorization document, authorizing her lawful employment in the United States, with any U.S. employer through the spring of 2029."
Global Village Academy is a tuition-free public charter school with campuses in Aurora, Parker, and Thornton, offering language immersion for students in kindergarten to 5th grade.
ICE's statement is as follows, with the teacher's name redacted to protect the identity of her children.
She "is an illegal alien from Peru who entered the country Dec. 2, 2022 near Yuma, Arizona and was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. She was subsequently paroled and released on her own recognizance.
[She] was taken into ICE Denver custody on Oct. 24, 2025. She will be held in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is executing its mission of identifying and removing criminal aliens and others who have violated our nation's immigration laws. All aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States, regardless of nationality."