ICE releases Honduran mother who was detained in Colorado for months after DoorDash delivery arrest

Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, The Denver Post on Jun 9, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

DENVER — Carla Medina was released from the immigration detention facility in Aurora on Monday, almost eight months after the Honduran mother of two was first detained while attempting to deliver a DoorDash order to Buckley Space Force Base.

Her release was confirmed by Medina’s husband, Pablo Acosta.

“To tell the truth, I feel very nervous, happy,” Acosta said in Spanish through a translator. “I can’t believe it, still, that this has happened.”

Medina won her asylum case in May. But because the federal government reserved the right to appeal on a single issue, she remained in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through Monday.

She and her family first sought asylum in the United States in 2023, with Medina specifically saying that she feared domestic violence and threats made by her ex-partner in Honduras.

During the asylum process, Medina was picked up on Oct. 23 by ICE agents who arrived at Buckley’s entrance after she had approached to drop off a food delivery order. Medina said she had her work permit at the time.

A crowd of about two dozen people gathered at the ICE facility in May to call for her release.

Immigration-focused organizations that worked with both Medina and Acosta throughout the process are celebrating her release.

“It is a community win to have Carla free,” said Andrea Loya, the executive director of Casa de Paz. “She should not have missed all that time away from her kids. We are so happy to know that she will get to hug them tonight and put them to sleep.”

Jennifer Piper, the program director at the American Friends Service Committee, said, “The dedication of her husband, Pablo, and the support of community made a huge difference in her case.”

To her, “it vindicates what we’ve been saying all along,” Piper said. “So many do have life-threatening reasons why they (fled) their country of origin and that they trust us as a country to respect their human rights.”

_____