For his first bill in Congress, Rep. Evans aims to reverse Colorado’s immigration laws

GOP Rep. Gabe Evans is using his first bill in Congress to focus on illegal immigration.

The freshman lawmaker’s Unhandcuffing Police to Locate and Interdict Foreign Transgressors, or UPLIFT, Act takes aim specifically at several Colorado laws.

Walking outside a Capitol office building holding up a folder, Evans said in a social media video that his bill “will uplift public safety by allowing law enforcement to be able to get dangerous criminals, who are also illegally present in our community, out of our neighborhoods. Sanctuary state laws in Colorado currently prevent law enforcement from doing this.”

Evans, a former Arvada police officer, pointed to last month’s DEA arrest of dozens of alleged Tren de Aragua gang members at a make-shift night club, saying state and local law enforcement “knew where those bad guys were, but they were not allowed to act.”

No criminal charges have been filed against the 49 people who were detained, making it impossible to verify the claim that many have gang ties.

Evans is trying to reverse three state laws protecting immigrants. 

Under his bill, Colorado law enforcement would be authorized to hold someone solely based on whether they suspect the person is in the country unlawfully. They would also be able to disclose personal information of an undocumented person suspected of a crime to federal immigration agents without a subpoena, warrant or court order. And local governments would be able to contract with private facilities for immigration detention.

The bill would also give crime victims the ability to sue a state or local government, if their perpetrator had been released by a law enforcement agency, in spite of a request from federal immigration officials to hold onto them.

Colorado GOP Reps. Jeff Hurd, Lauren Boebert and Jeff Crank have cosponsored the bill. Evans, Boebert and Crank have also written to Gov. Jared Polis, urging him to repeal several of the state’s immigration laws, including a couple that Evans takes aim at with his bill.

While Evans often talks about gangs and violent criminals when discussing immigration, the bill said civil detainers can be issued for “the alleged violation of any criminal or motor vehicle law.”

Colorado is not, by definition, a sanctuary state, but it does have laws aimed at preventing people from being detained on their immigration status alone, for example, if they are stopped for speeding.

Local law enforcement, though, does work with federal immigration officials.

Hart Van Denburg/CPR News

At a meeting of the National Governor’s Association, Gov. Jared Polis said the state has a “very strong relationship” with federal law enforcement. “We see apprehending criminals, regardless of whether they got here a year ago or are fourth generation, as a big part of what we need to do to make Colorado safer.”

A spokesman for Polis emphasized that Colorado is not a sanctuary state. “Frankly, any law enforcement official not working with our federal partners in accordance with the law to fight crime simply isn’t doing their job.” 

Colorado’s laws “would not have stopped local governments from arresting or detaining persons for criminal offenses,” said former state Rep. Joe Salazar. The Democrat advocated for similar policies during his time at the statehouse and added that it is about asserting state’s rights under the 10th Amendment.

Evans, in his video, argued his bill would not trample on state’s rights, noting the Constitution delegates to the federal government the authority to keep communities safe.

The introduction of Evans’s bill comes as House Republicans plan to focus next week on policies in so-called sanctuary cities. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston will be one of four Democratic mayors testifying at that hearing.