Joanne Belknap bears witness.
She bears witness to the young families arriving at Denver immigration court in their Sunday best — baby girls in headbands, men in collared shirts. She notices the trembling hands accepting informational pamphlets she distributes outside the Byron Rogers Federal Building downtown. Among packed, wooden courthouse benches, Belknap absorbs the testimonies of immigrants seeking asylum in the United States who describe fleeing violence and terror in their home countries by foot, sometimes on their own and sometimes with children in tow, in pursuit of safety.
Although she spends hours at the federal courthouse each week, the 67-year-old retired professor is not a lawyer. She is a volunteer court watcher — a group of regular people who sign up for shifts observing the proceedings at Denver’s immigration court and pass out resources to the immigrants.
Volunteers walk the courthouse perimeter, eyes peeled for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles or ICE agents. If spotted, they can warn immigrants in the vicinity and alert local immigration advocacy groups to be prepared to respond. They document which federal or state agencies are parked nearby, sharing the information they gather in encrypted text messages. They hand out fliers in English and Spanish with information about how to prepare for immigration proceedings, free legal resources and what to do if detained by ICE.
The Byron Rogers Federal Building’s six immigration courtrooms and those who enter and exit their chambers have imprinted on Belknap’s conscious. Sometimes in heartening moments like flexing her Duolingo-acquired Spanish skills entertaining a small child sitting in the courthouse waiting room for hours. Other times, like the day she witnessed a man “violently” arrested by ICE in front of his young son and partner, it is emotionally taxing.
Still, the longtime activist said it is the most impactful work she has ever done — using the privilege of being a white woman to look out for the vulnerable in her community, she said.
“It’s the best I’ve felt about being white in my entire life,” Belknap said. “I don’t think I’m a wonderful person or such a badass for doing this. It is just a really good outlet to feel like I’m doing something. How do we show up for our neighbors?”
‘It’s very grassroots’
The court watch group was born out of concerns from members of the Colorado Rapid Response Network which responds to and documents ICE activity in the state. In late May, members of the network heard rumors that ICE might show up outside federal immigration court to detain people, so they pulled together volunteers from various immigration, activist and faith-based groups to go to the courthouse and observe.
“It’s very grassroots,” said Kellyn Croy, a 34-year-old stay-at-home mom in Thornton who heard about the group in June from a Reddit post.
Croy was “totally new to activism,” she said. After reading news reports about immigrant families being separated or detained in Colorado, she felt compelled to get involved in the cause.
Federal immigration arrests in Colorado surged this summer under the Trump administration’s plans to mass-deport immigrants lacking permanent legal status.
The agencies detaining immigrants in Colorado have increasingly arrested those without any prior criminal convictions or charges, according to internal data.
“I’m white and a suburban mom, so there is a certain amount of power in that — privilege,” Croy said. “Seeing all of this tears my heart up. If I can use my whiteness to do something, then please sign me up for it. That was my thought process.”
In the beginning, the court watchers would just show up and figure out how to divide themselves to best serve the people there that day. Now that they’ve been going for several months, there’s an official shift sign-up process where people schedule themselves in two-hour blocks. There’s a vetting process and a training they’ve created to show people the ropes and teach new volunteers the rules.
For example, they can’t hand people literature inside the courthouse, so they pass out their informational pamphlets outside.
“We’re on public property,” Croy said. “We’re not violent. We’re not screaming. We’re peaceful. We’re just there for members of our community.”
The newly minted activist said the work is simple but meaningful. She has made new friends among her peers and met immigrants whose lives have moved her. She doesn’t speak Spanish, but her volunteerism is still welcomed.
“These are good people who are trying to do the right thing,” Croy said. “They’re trying to go about the immigration process the right way, showing up to court and going to their appointments and they have to worry about being detained while doing so.”
Showing up for people
On an early Monday morning in November, a mother pushing a stroller flanked by two older children hustled into the courthouse. Belknap handed the family a list of immigration advocacy group resources on their way inside, and the family’s worried expressions momentarily lifted, shifting into smiles.
“I feel guilty sometimes how grateful people are just that we are there to give them their rights and try to keep them as safe as we know how to do,” Belknap said. “It’s very, very humbling.”
The pamphlet states that June 17 was the last time someone was taken from the courthouse by ICE — both a reassurance that it’s been a few months and a notice to be vigilant, Belknap said.
Belknap was on court watch when the incident happened.
Volunteers told The Denver Post when it happened that a man, his partner and young son left the courtroom after an immigration hearing when ICE agents in plain clothes and masks grabbed the man and pushed him into the women’s restroom. The man was “violently” detained in front of his young child who was crying, volunteers said. Agents took the man down the courthouse hallway and “disappeared him,” volunteers said.
A volunteer was in the bathroom during the incident telling the agents to stop and telling the couple not to give the agents any information. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, that volunteer was then detained, arrested, handcuffed and cited.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Denver office said in a social media post that an agent was “assaulted” that day while performing their duties. The agency did not provide additional details about the situation.
Belknap — whose university research has largely taken place in prisons and domestic violence shelters — described the event as among the most horrifying scenes she’s witnessed.
Court watchers called immigration rapid response networks, who quickly showed up. They documented the incident, alerted the media and helped spread the word about what happened to someone in their community.
Margaret Bobb, a retired Denver teacher, joined the court watch group this summer after involving herself in immigrant advocacy work the past year.
One of her children is nonbinary, she said, which compels the 62-year-old to fight hard for the rights of the vulnerable.
Bobb finds the volunteer work calming — a tangible action she can do to quell a feeling of hopelessness.
She feels fortified at the thought that “a bunch of white U.S. citizens with cameras ready to film and report on what’s going on” could prevent injustices.
While she knows it’s a drop in the bucket, she hopes that some information on the fliers they hand out might prove helpful — even life-saving, she said.
“You meet cool people and you meet nice immigrants,” Bobb said. “I drive away going,’I did something.’ It’s empowering.”
As a kid, Belknap remembers learning about Hitler and the Nazis.
“I used to always think that I hope I would have been one of the good people who tried to stand up for these horrible things going on — kidnapping and detaining people and killing them,” Belknap said. “This is it for me. I feel I am obliged to show up for people.”