Three of the Republicans in Colorado’s U.S. House delegation are pushing for the state to repeal laws meant to protect non-citizens from being detained and deported.
In a letter to Gov. Jared Polis, Reps. Gabe Evans, Lauren Boebert and Jeff Crank asked Polis whether he will push for the repeals as “the Trump administration prepares to prioritize identifying, arresting, and deporting criminals who are in the United States illegally.”
The letter was first reported by Axios Denver. It singles out three laws passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature since 2017. They are:
- HB17-1230, titled “Protect Colorado Residents From Federal Government Overreach,” prohibits a law enforcement officer from arresting or detaining someone solely on the basis of a civil immigration detainer, but does allow local law enforcement to cooperate in the execution of a warrant.
- SB21-131, “Protect Personal Identifying Information Kept By State,” prohibits disclosure of personal information from federal immigration enforcement except as required by subpoena, warrant or order.
- HB23-1100, “Restrict Government Involvement in Immigration Detention,” prohibits the opening of new private immigration detention centers and restricts the ability of county jails to rent bed space to ICE.
The letter, dated Jan. 17, was led by Evans, a former police officer and state House lawmaker who flipped Colorado’s toss-up 8th Congressional District Republican in the last election. Evans said law enforcement in his district have told him these three laws prevent them from working with federal immigration officials.
A spokesperson for Polis said the Governor is reviewing the letter. Democrats control both chambers of the state legislature and are unlikely to repeal the laws.
The three Republicans who signed on the letter blame Polis and Democrats for so-called “sanctuary state policies” negatively impacting Colorado.
“The crisis has been fueled by misguided policies from the State Legislature in Denver over the past decade, policies which handcuff state and local police officers from cooperating with their federal counterparts to protect our communities from dangerous illegal immigrants,” the three wrote. Freshman Rep. Jeff Hurd was the only Republican in Colorado’s delegation not to sign on.
In a post on X announcing the letter, Crank wrote Polis “told Coloradans that he welcomed ICE’s support in deporting illegal immigrants—though he has repeatedly enacted sanctuary policies that endanger our communities.”
Polis said in his recent State of the State address that, ”we welcome more federal help to detain and deport dangerous criminals.”
It’s the “disconnect” between Polis’ words and these three state laws that spurred Evans to lead this letter.
Colorado is not, by definition, a sanctuary state, but has strong immigrant protection laws. Those policies do not prevent local law enforcement from dealing with federal immigration officials on criminal matters, but are aimed at preventing people from being detained based on their immigration status alone, for example, after a traffic stop.
Trump’s executive actions hint that deportations will not just be focused on criminals. In a return to the policies of his first term, the Trump administration has taken away protections for safe spaces, such as houses of worship, schools and health care facilities, allowing immigration authorities to pursue arrests in those places.
“Everybody believes somebody convicted of a crime and also people who are a threat to national security should be deported,” Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette told CNN, adding Denver police would work with ICE on that. “But this idea of mass deportations, of ICE agents sweeping through communities, through churches and schools, and taking people who might be here legally, separating families, that’s not going to help.”
As of 2022, there were approximately 150,000 undocumented people living in Colorado, according to the American Immigration Council.
