More than 100 alleged migrants detained at an illegal after-hours nightclub in Colorado

More than 100 people suspected of being in the United States illegally were taken into custody early Sunday after a federal raid at an illegal after-hours nightclub in Colorado, authorities said.

Video posted online by the Drug Enforcement Administration showed agents announcing their presence outside the building and ordering patrons to leave with their hands up. Other videos showed dozens of people fleeing the building through its entrance after federal agents smashed a window. Later, dozens of people were shown in handcuffs standing on a sidewalk waiting to be transported.

President Trump’s unprecedented immigration crackdown has pushed the limits of executive power, and he has clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him. The effort has included detaining more than 1,000 international college students, some of whom have seen their legal status restored, at least temporarily. The policies have slowed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border to a relative trickle.

On Sunday in Colorado, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took the club-going immigrants into custody, said Jonathan Pullen, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division.

“Colorado Springs is waking up to a safer community today,” he said.

More than 300 law enforcement officers and officials from multiple agencies participated in the raid on the club, which had been under investigation for several months for alleged activities including drug trafficking, prostitution and “crimes of violence,” Pullen said at a news conference. Cocaine was among the drugs found, he said.

“When the cops showed up at the door, most of the drugs hit the floor,” Pullen said.

An undisclosed number of guns were seized, he said.

“Nothing good ever happens after 3 a.m.,” the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Division posted on the social platform X.

Pullen estimated that more than 200 people were inside the nightclub. Among those detained were a dozen active-duty military members who either were patrons or working as armed security. Some patrons were arrested on undisclosed outstanding warrants, Pullen said.

U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said on X that “as we approach his 100 days in office @POTUS Trump’s directive to make America safe again is achieving results!”

Pullen did not specify the countries where the detainees were from.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Colorado temporarily blocked deportations of immigrants who face possible removal under Trump’s invocation of an 18th century law known as the Alien Enemies Act.

Raby writes for the Associated Press.