Outside Salt Lake City's immigration court on Tuesday, a 21-year-old man who had called Utah home for the past three years walked out of a hearing believing his case had just been resolved. Instead, according to his attorney, he was taken into federal custody moments after an immigration judge dismissed his case, a move that has his legal team filing an appeal and critics raising alarms about immigration arrests around courthouses.
Detained After Court Hearing
The man, identified as Kevin Alexander Ortiz Barros, is a Colombian national who arrived in Utah three years ago. His girlfriend says that after Tuesday's hearing, he was taken into custody outside the Salt Lake City immigration court and transported to a detention facility in Wyoming. "He's the hardest worker I've ever met in my life and never complains," his girlfriend, Jilian Nelsen, told FOX 13.
Ortiz Barros' attorney says federal agents moved in after the judge dismissed the case, despite his client having pursued legal residency through established channels. The legal team has already launched an appeal and is asking that he be released while the matter is reviewed, according to FOX 13.
How a Juvenile Finding Shaped His Case
Attorney Adam Crayk told FOX 13 that Ortiz Barros fled Colombia at age 18. A juvenile court later determined he met the criteria for abuse, abandonment, or neglect. That state court finding paved the way for approval of his Special Immigrant Juvenile, or SIJ, application.
SIJ status is a humanitarian classification for minors who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected that can lead to lawful permanent residence when specific state court findings are made, according to USCIS. Crayk says the judge's dismissal of the case, followed by ICE detention outside the court, came abruptly. He adds that his team has already filed an appeal seeking Ortiz Barros' release while the case moves forward.
Legal Context and Enforcement Trends
Immigration attorneys say arrests at or near courthouses have become increasingly common as federal enforcement strategies lean on faster deportation tools. This shift has drawn both lawsuits and public scrutiny. A federal judge temporarily halted a broad expansion of expedited removal last year over due process concerns, as reported by the Associated Press.
In Utah, local reporting has documented a recent rise in ICE arrests and transfers out of the state, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Ortiz Barros' detention outside an immigration courtroom has quickly become part of that broader debate over how and where immigration enforcement should take place.
What Comes Next
Ortiz Barros' lawyers say they plan to keep pressing the appeal and will ask a judge to free him while his case is under review. In the meantime, family members and local advocates have scrambled to pull together money and legal support.
ICE and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to news reporting on the case.
