Carlos Montes was driving with his family on South Greeley Highway on Nov. 26 when a Laramie County Sheriff’s deputy pulled him over for what first appeared like a routine traffic stop.
Instead, the deputy took Montes into custody as his pregnant partner and 5-year-old son watched helplessly, his friends say.
For three weeks, his family and friends were desperate to find answers, including where the expectant father was being held. They say they were met with silence, conflicting reports and overall confusion when dealing with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Montes is a barber at Drew’s Barbershop in Cheyenne, according to husband and wife shop owners Drew Weston and Andrea Shipley. The couple is leading the effort to help his family navigate an increasingly difficult situation.
They maintain he was wrongly detained by immigration officials despite trying to methodically follow the process to work legally in the U.S. Once he was taken by ICE, his friends and family describe how a distressing process left them in the dark about his whereabouts and well-being while putting up barriers to even simple steps like sending money to him to pay for phone calls.
Originally from Nicaragua, Montes and his partner had been living in Cheyenne since 2023, Shipley said. (His partner did not want to comment for this story.) As a licensed barber, he started working at Drew’s Barbershop in April of this year and had already gone through the proper immigration and licensing process, she said.
“Carlos has a naturalization number, and all of those things were approved through the state of Wyoming with the Attorney General’s office,” she said. “He’s worked at four different shops in town; he’s well known.”
After Montes disappeared into ICE custody last month, the couple encountered an immigration process that has been confusing and hard to navigate, Shipley said. “Communication can be really difficult.”
“If you are not an attorney, it can be really difficult for families to talk to ICE.”
Attorney Elisabeth Trefonas
That’s left the couple trying to piece together what happened to the barber. Weston theorized that some piece of paperwork might have been lost or missed in the long process. There’s also a chance that Montes entered the United States when migrants from Nicaragua were offered temporary protected status. The Trump administration terminated that status for Nicaraguans in September.
“I know that he has done so much paperwork to even be here and get his license, that he’s a guy who will do what he needs to do the legal way,” Weston said, “so for this to pop up and then to be treated like this, oh my God.”
After numerous requests for comment, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement responded to Oil City News on Dec. 9 with an email stating: “Carlos Fausto Montes Calderon is an illegal alien from Nicaragua. He was ordered removed by an immigration judge June 6, 2024. He was arrested by ICE Denver Nov. 26, 2025 and removed to Nicaragua on Dec. 4.”
That was information Montes’ distraught family and friends said they were unable to get from ICE. Then on Monday, after weeks of silence, the family finally heard from Montes. He had been deported back to Nicaragua and was able to connect with family there.
“If you are not an attorney, it can be really difficult for families to talk to ICE,” said Jackson-based immigration attorney Elisabeth Trefonas.
Although Trefonas isn’t representing Montes, she told Oil City News that his circumstances are familiar. It’s also not uncommon for people to have removal orders filed even though they believe their immigration papers are in order, she said.
The arrest
Montes was with his partner and child in the car when a sheriff’s deputy stopped the family, according to Shipley.
“She is going to have a baby any day,” Shipley said. “It’s heartbreaking what is happening.”
At first, the barbershop owners believed Montes had been sent to the ICE holding facility in Aurora, Colorado. But dozens of attempts to reach him were futile, they said.
Oil City News attempted multiple times to reach the privately-run Aurora Detention Center through its published number, which rang but was not answered.
Weston said a family member got through to the facility, but was unable to talk to Montes, even after putting money on his account for phone calls. Families of detainees have described the need to pay for phone calls and FaceTime to communicate with detainees.
In an attempt to see Montes, a family member traveled to the Colorado facility on Dec. 2 for a visitation, but was told that he may have already been deported. Two days later, a family member was able to reach Montes and confirm that he was still in the United States but had been sent to an ICE facility in a different state. On Dec. 5, the family used an online ICE locator tool that showed he was being held in CoreCivic’s Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Mississippi. Montes’ information was later missing from the locator tool when the family and Oil City News tried again. Four days after the locator tool indicated he was in Mississippi, ICE responded to Oil City News with the email saying Montes had already been deported on Dec. 4.
According to Shipley, Montes had told a family member that he had “signed some paperwork,” but wasn’t sure about the document’s meaning.
A spokesperson for Gov. Mark Gordon’s office said a representative had been in contact with the family, but was not directly involved and could only offer advice.
The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that their deputies made the initial traffic stop that night for an inoperable headlight. “ICE authorized deputies to take Montes into custody,” a spokesperson said.
Montes has been stopped by law enforcement before. Last fall, he was pulled over three times and issued citations for traffic violations, court documents show. Most of the citations were for improper registration, not having a valid driver’s license and not possessing insurance. Otherwise, Oil City News did not locate a criminal history for Montes.
Trefonas, the Jackson-based attorney, cautioned that it’s risky for people to be driving if they have uncertainty about their immigration status, “but I’ve also had U.S. citizens wrongfully detained as well with mistaken identities, particularly with common last names.”
After being swiftly transported to a facility, she described, it’s possible the detainee either didn’t have a phone number memorized or didn’t have an opportunity to call anyone. “And then they’re moved or removed from the country before there was any time to talk with them about it.”
Montes does not have an immigration attorney, according to Shipley. Immigration attorneys interviewed by WyoFile recently said the confusing process of detaining, moving and eventually possibly deporting migrants to different countries has become typical as the Trump administration increases its deportation efforts.
“We’re seeing people moved around so much they lose track of what day it is … they don’t know time and place,” Laura Lunn, of the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, told WyoFile. “People [end up] detained in Aurora, Colorado, and don’t know there’s a giant mountain range outside their front door.”
Shipley and Weston have been posting updates on the Drew’s Barbershop Facebook page, trying to rally community support for Montes, and established a GoFundMe fundraiser to offer financial help for his family, and to possibly hire an attorney. Shipley said they are determined to help bring him back to Cheyenne to be with his family.
Aside from the personal cost, the couple said the aggressive crackdowns have taken a toll on small businesses, including theirs.
“It’s not about the money, it’s about the humanity,” Shipley added. “We’re taking a big hit and other small businesses affected by this are taking huge hits too, but the fact is the people in the barbershop are losing a colleague, they’re losing a trusted friend and part of the culture of the barbershop, a community watering hole where people are supposed to be safe.”
While Montes is now in Nicaragua, his pregnant partner, son, and job remain in Cheyenne.
Well, trump is going to make the population crash that coming that much more great! Hopefully the next administration will help some these people back that were in the process of becoming citizens. We need more people, not less.
L
So much for trying to do things the correct way. Even if he entered illegally which may be the case, it is likely he was originally protected under the Nicaraguan amnesty program. If he makes the effort to become a citizen then this is sad. I am sure we have many local folks that will think this is just great. Sad society.
How many more stories are we going to have to hear like this?
This man is a danger to shaggy hair and overgrown fades. The chrump lemmings that support this are shameful.