Attorney challenges ICE detention of Santa Fe father, citing dismissed chargesDHS cited an “extensive criminal history” after ICE detained Edgar Chacon-Miranda. Court records reviewed by KOAT show the charges cited by the agency were dismissed.Questions are mounting over the detention of a Santa Fe father arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside a medical center as his attorney challenges the federal government’s description of him as a dangerous criminal.ICE agents arrested 45-year-old Edgar Chacon-Miranda on Aug. 19 in the parking lot of the La Familia Medical Center, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Video showed Chacon-Miranda being detained while in the process of taking his 11-year-old daughter to a medical appointment.Immigration attorney Allegra Love said ICE informed her that Chacon-Miranda was being held at the Torrance County Detention Facility in Estancia. However, she said she has been unable to speak with him or review documents explaining the legal basis for his detention.“I actually haven’t been able to make contact with him because his information is not showing up in the ICE detainee locator,” Love said. “All the systems that I have as a lawyer to be able to track down a detainee aren’t working right now.”DHS called Chacon-Miranda a “criminal illegal alien” and said he has an “extensive criminal history,” citing arrests for battery against a household member, second-degree criminal sexual penetration, child abuse and abandonment of a child.Court records reviewed by KOAT show those charges arose from a 2018 case involving allegations made by a former partner. Chacon-Miranda did not go to trial and was not convicted. A Santa Fe judge dismissed all four charges after the state failed to prosecute the case.The Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office said the case did not move forward because the alleged victim did not cooperate with prosecutors. The office said prosecutors attempted to revive the case in 2021, but the alleged victim again was unwilling to participate in the criminal process.District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies criticized federal officials for highlighting the arrest without noting the case’s outcome.“To hold an arrest against an undocumented person eight years later defies everything this community stands for, and I too am outraged,” Carmack-Altwies said. “People wonder why victims and witnesses won’t cooperate with law enforcement — this is it.”Love acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations but said an arrest should not be treated as a conviction.“Obviously, those allegations are extremely alarming and should be taken very seriously,” Love said. “In this case, the DA or the state of New Mexico decided not to prosecute Mr. Chacon-Miranda on these crimes.”Love also said Chacon-Miranda has full custody of his children under a New Mexico family court order. She cited the order as evidence that the court determined he could safely care for them.She said renewed publicity surrounding the allegations is harming his children, including the daughter who witnessed his arrest.“His children are suffering because this information has become public and they’re smearing their father’s name across the internet and social media,” Love said.Love said Chacon-Miranda received a U visa in 2022 after cooperating with law enforcement as the victim of a crime. U visas are available to certain crime victims who assist authorities with an investigation or prosecution.His visa expired in May after its standard four-year term, Love said. She said he applied for lawful permanent residency after becoming eligible and is waiting for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to decide his application.“There’s no reason this man should be detained,” Love said.DHS said the arrest was part of a targeted enforcement operation. The agency said nearly 70% of ICE arrests involve immigrants who have been charged with or convicted of crimes in the United States.State Senate Republican Leader Bill Sharer of Farmington defended the arrest, saying the failure to prosecute cases harms victims and the public.“Immigration status doesn’t change that,” Sharer said. “I appreciate ICE for doing what should have been done in the first place and taking this violent criminal off of our streets.”The detention came amid a series of immigration arrests in Santa Fe. U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez’s office said eight people were detained during the week, including parents and people with medical conditions.Leger Fernandez called on ICE to keep those detained in New Mexico so they can remain closer to their families and attorneys.