COLORADO SANCTUARY CITIES
After weeks of uncertainty, Colorado became a sanctuary state in 2019. Governor Polis signed into law House Bill (HB) 1124, after putting up a months-long fight against the bill’s original language which included denying access of ICE officials to local jails and preventing local governments from using tax dollars to enforce federal immigration laws.
Under the new law, state and local law enforcement will be prohibited from honoring immigration detainers, or requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold a criminal alien already in custody for up to 48 hours. It could also make it impossible for law enforcement officials to cooperate with ICE under federal immigration enforcement cooperation initiatives.
Additionally, probation officers will be restricted from sharing information with ICE about illegal aliens they supervise, including information about release dates, court dates or their place of residence. Law enforcement officials will even be required to provide an “advisement of rights” to suspected illegal aliens before they’re released or prior to any interviews with ICE.
Under the new law, state and local law enforcement will be prohibited from honoring immigration detainers, or requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold a criminal alien already in custody for up to 48 hours. It could also make it impossible for law enforcement officials to cooperate with ICE under federal immigration enforcement cooperation initiatives.
Additionally, probation officers will be restricted from sharing information with ICE about illegal aliens they supervise, including information about release dates, court dates or their place of residence. Law enforcement officials will even be required to provide an “advisement of rights” to suspected illegal aliens before they’re released or prior to any interviews with ICE.
Not everyone was pleased about the news. ICE released a statement the day after the signing calling the new law “dangerous” and suggesting it would put innocent lives at risk: “By signing Colorado’s HB 1124, the state has codified a dangerous policy that deliberately obstructs our country’s lawful immigration system, protects serious criminal alien offenders, and undermines public safety.”
Moments before signing the sanctuary state bill into law, Polis approved a measure to increase the number of locations where illegal aliens can obtain driver’s licenses. He also signed a law to make many current drug felonies into misdemeanors. This measure, along with another bill he signed back in March 2019 to reduce the maximum sentence for serious misdemeanors by one day, all but ensures that illegal aliens who commit such crimes in Colorado will avoid mandatory detention and deportation as federal law requires. |
The Biden administration bases their sanctuary policy on the excuse that immigrants are fearful of police and hesitate reporting crimes against themselves. But, the 2017–19 NCVS indicates that the whole basis for sanctuary polices is a myth; it turns out that crimes against immigrants are reported to police at rates that match or often exceed those for crimes against the U.S.-born. The NCVS shows that 57 percent of serious crimes against noncitizen Hispanics were reported to police, compared with 53 percent for the U.S.-born. |
Despite the Biden administration’s abandonment of nearly all interior enforcement, immigration laws are not obsolete statutes that should be ignored. Congress has enacted limits on immigration for good reasons, including to reduce job competition for the poorest and least-educated Americans and to avoid burdening public coffers. Local law enforcement has a role to play in the important national goal of enforcing immigrant laws. Because ICE does not patrol the streets and jails, it needs the cooperation of local authorities. They should not hesitate to work with ICE out of unfounded concern that this will undermine trust in immigrant communities.
Congressman Glenn Grothman (WI-06) has reintroduced the Ending Sanctuary Cities Act to the 117th Congress. This bill will prevent state and local governments that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities from receiving any federal grants. It would also protect state and local governments from federal or state lawsuits brought by illegal aliens. In addition, any law enforcement officer following federal immigration law would be protected from discharge or discrimination from any state or local government with a sanctuary policy. Unfortunately, the bill didn’t get any further in in the 117th Congress as it did in the 116th. It keeps going to the Justice Committee on the Judiciary and then to the Subcommittee on Immigration and dies.
We know all too well the tragic stories of Americans falling victim to criminal illegal aliens in sanctuary jurisdictions. Take the case of a 16-year-old girl who was murdered outside Baltimore in May 2020. Five suspects associated with MS-13 were charged with her murder, two of which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had previously issued detainers on. As the Acting Baltimore Field Office Director Francisco Madrigal put it, “this is the worst-case scenario when detainers are not honored”.
We know all too well the tragic stories of Americans falling victim to criminal illegal aliens in sanctuary jurisdictions. Take the case of a 16-year-old girl who was murdered outside Baltimore in May 2020. Five suspects associated with MS-13 were charged with her murder, two of which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had previously issued detainers on. As the Acting Baltimore Field Office Director Francisco Madrigal put it, “this is the worst-case scenario when detainers are not honored”.
Sanctuary jurisdictions should not be rewarded with federal funds when they refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement officials. In 2017, President Trump issued an executive order stating that federal grants shall not be awarded to sanctuary jurisdictions that willfully refuse to comply with federal immigration law. On day one, President Biden overturned this executive order and subsequently, the Department of Justice ended its policy of conditioning grant funding on cooperation with federal immigration authorities. This comes after then-Senator Biden called for a ban on sanctuary cities.
Our immigration policies need to be either re-established or re-enforced. It used to be illegal to enter the US without approval, and supposedly still is. If so, all people entering are criminals even though the Biden administration seems to turn their eyes from the situation. How can states declare that they won’t work with US federal agents to enforce immigration laws? I understand the issue of states’ rights, but it only works one way. If a state refuses to demand COVID vax or refuses to abort babies, the Left is up in arms! |
I don’t blame people from wanting to come here. I’ve been to Mexico and Honduras and the conditions are terrible for the poor. But, it’s not only Mexico and Central America; it’s Africa, the Middle East, Asia, etc. Most of these people have not had medical exams, test, or vaccines. They come here with diseases that we don’t even vaccinate for anymore and not to mention the ones for which we have no cure.
The present administration can’t do anything about the homeless situation, the inflation, fentanyl, anarchy in the streets and violence in the cities, sexual perversion and identity confusion, and the decline in the quality of education. These issues are only going to increase because of the weight of responsibility of these undocumented immigrants. There were 2.76 million illegal aliens who came across the border in 2022. It has to stop! But remember, our state has open borders because of the Democratic control of our government. People need to express their concerns. |