Judge orders release of Park City man detained by ICE

A federal immigration judge ordered Lisandro Pantaleon Pacheco released after the 22-year-old Park City resident spent nearly a month in ICE custody in Evanston, Wyoming, turning a routine trip to work into a countywide flashpoint.

Pacheco was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on April 29, 2026, while he was on his way to work in Park City. His attorney, Adam Crayk, said Pacheco had no criminal record except for a traffic violation. Family members said the Park City High School graduate and University of Utah student had bought an engagement ring and planned to propose to his longtime girlfriend, Britney Xiques, before he was taken into custody.

The arrest came during a broader ICE operation in Park City and nearby Heber. Local agencies said ICE notified Summit County dispatch beforehand, and Park City Police said they were not asked to assist. That detail has become central to the local reaction, as residents have tried to make sense of how a targeted federal operation unfolded in the middle of a place where many immigrant families already felt on edge.

The fallout was visible within days. On May 2, protesters gathered at the I-80 overpass in Kimball Junction to call attention to Pacheco’s detention and express fear about ICE activity in the area. The protest followed weeks of anxiety that had been building in Summit County, where immigration enforcement has increasingly become a family and public-safety issue, not just a Washington policy fight.

Local agencies have also spent months trying to calm those concerns. In February 2025, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office held a Spanish-language public Q&A at Ecker Hill Middle School to answer questions and reassure residents that it does not proactively enforce federal immigration law. The Park City School District separately told parents it does not collect or keep information on families’ immigration status and would not release students to federal immigration authorities without a valid judicial warrant.

For Pacheco’s family, the release order opens the door to bringing him home after he was held far from Park City. For Summit County, it underscores how a single ICE arrest can quickly spread through schools, workplaces and neighborhood conversations, leaving residents to sort out what federal enforcement means for daily life in the Wasatch Back.