For Immediate Release: June 18, 2025
Contact: Fermin Vasquez at [email protected]
Caroline Dias Goncalves Granted Bond – Attorney Jon Hyman and Gaby Pacheco React
Washington, DC – Earlier today, an immigration judge in Colorado granted bond in the case of Caroline Dias Goncalves – an essential step toward her release from a Colorado ICE detention center in coming days. Caroline is a 19-year-old University of Utah student and TheDream.US Scholar whose detention after a traffic stop generated local and national attention and outcry.
Jon Hyman, Caroline’s attorney and the head of the Peak Justice Group law firm, issued the following statement:
“We are relieved that Caroline was granted bond today and will be released from detention and returned to her family and community in the coming days. Caroline, and her family, are grateful for the outpouring of support on her behalf. After the traumatic past few weeks, we hope all can respect Caroline’s wishes and her family’s desire for privacy and time to heal upon her release.
We also know that Caroline’s arrest and detention should not have happened in the first place. She has no criminal record, was not shown a warrant, and as the Mesa County Sheriff’s office has since revealed, her arrest was only attributable to improper coordination between local law enforcement and ICE. Investigations should continue to ensure that other young immigrants in Colorado do not have to go through the same harrowing experiences.”
TheDream.US President & CEO Gaby Pacheco issued the following statement:
“While we anxiously await Caroline’s ultimate release, we are grateful to learn of her bond being granted and that she will be able to return to her family, community, and nursing studies in the near future.
Thank you to the nearly 7,000 people who signed Caroline’s Change.org petition, donated to her GoFundMe, sent prayers and positive energy her way, or spoke out and spotlighted the injustice of her detention. We stand with Caroline and her loved ones as she prepares to return to her family and heal after the trauma of the past two weeks.
While we celebrate the news of her upcoming release, we also recognize that Caroline – and Ximena Arias Cristóbal and numerous other Dreamers recently detained and even deported – should have never been targeted in the first place. America’s national interests are better served by delivering education and legal status for Dreamers instead of raids, detentions, and deportations.”
TheDream.US is the nation’s largest college and career success program for undocumented immigrant students, having provided more than 12,000 college scholarships to Dreamers attending over 80 partner colleges in 21 states and Washington, DC. We believe everyone, regardless of where they were born, should have equitable access to a college education, a meaningful career, and opportunities to contribute to the communities they call home. For more information on TheDream.US, visit www.thedream.us
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