The Trump administration sued Colorado and Denver on Friday, accusing them of obstructing state, city and federal immigration lawsuits. This is the latest salvo in the White House battle to force local governments to help deport them.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Colorado and involving Denver's Governor Jared Police and the mayor of Denver as defendants, particularly challenges state and city laws that restrict or prohibit cooperation with federal agencies.
One state law prohibits officers from retaining someone based solely on civil immigrant detainees. This is a demand that detainees not be released. Other state laws prevent state and local officials from sharing information with federal immigration authorities and preventing local prisons from working with the federal government to house people detained for civil immigration violations.
The lawsuit also challenges Denver's measures to ban the use of urban resources to help enforce immigrants, and a “2017 executive order from the mayor that aims to establish Denver as a safe and welcoming city for all.”
The lawsuit asks the court to govern the law as unconstitutional and prohibit them from enforcement.
“This is a lawsuit to end these disastrous policies and restore the advantages of federal immigration law,” the lawsuit said.
Many liberal states and cities have laws that keep local police stations out of immigration enforcement activities as a way to build trust with immigrant communities. Democrat officials in some cities say the policy helps immigrants feel comfortable reporting crime and interacting with the health sector and schools.
But the White House and other Republican officials say that in so-called sanctuary cities, such laws provide safe shelters for criminals and put residents at risk.
In a statement, Democrat Police's office said Colorado works regularly with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, not sanctuary states.
“If the court says that Colorado laws are ineffective, we will follow the ruling,” the statement said. “We are not going to comment on the merits of the lawsuit.”
Johnston, who is also a Democrat, said in an interview that his city is already working with federal immigration authorities by respecting requests to notify immigration and customs enforcement agencies if what the agency calls “removable aliens” is about to be released from detention.
At the same time, Johnston said he believes hospitals, schools and courts must be out of reach for immigration enforcement.
“What we know is that there are no thousands of undocumented individuals here with a history of violent criminals,” Johnston said. “That's the myth that was said.”
A survey last summer found that general support for immigration to the US declined under the Biden administration. Some states and local officials are now softening their language to explain sanctuary policies, while some states are trying to loosen local measures limiting cooperation with federal officials.
But many officials in democratically-led states and cities have also faced criticism from supporters for opposing Trump's tough policies.
Hans Meyer, a Denver-based immigration lawyer, helped promote the currently challenging law, calling a statement from Police's office “Tepid” and “disappointment.”
“We have elected Governor Police to stand up to these principles that we believe in,” Meyer said. “And that's not a collaborator to bend your knees to the Trump administration.”
The lawsuit against Colorado officials is similar to the administration filed against Illinois and Chicago in February, similar to the administration filed last month against Rochester, New York. Both cases are underway.
The lawsuit is just part of the Trump administration's broader efforts to make national and local law enforcement do more to support deportation plans. The administration has tried to block funding from cities and counties that do not cooperate.
On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order heading attorney general Pam Bondi and homeland security secretary Christa Noem to make public a list of state and local jurisdictions in which the administration considers sanctuary cities. You need to pursue “all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures.”
Last month, FBI agents arrested a Milwaukee judge on charges of obstructing justice, and authorities said they had directed an undocumented immigrant from her courtroom through the side door while federal immigrant agents waited in the hallway to arrest him. The judge's legal team vowed to challenge the charges.
The Colorado lawsuit comes shortly after more than 100 people who federal agents say they are undocumented immigrants were arrested in the Colorado Springs Nightclub attack, according to the Drug Enforcement Office. About 50 city police officers supported federal agents.
The city's mayor told The New York Times that he was an immigrant from Nigeria and supported the arrest.
“This immigrant mayor should have consequences if you're illegally here and committed a crime,” said politically independent Mayor Yemi Movarade. “You should be deported.”
Trump has also long slandered another Colorado City, Aurora, as overrun by Venezuelan street gangster Tren de Aragua. On the campaign trail, Trump frequently mentioned suburbs spreading east of Denver, and shortly after the inauguration, federal agents stormed an aged apartment where immigrants lived without plumbing or heat. ICE has not stated how many people were arrested in the attack or whether they detained gang members.
The lawsuit filed Friday again called Aurora, claiming that Tren de Aragua had seized control of the city's apartment building.
Aurora officials say these claims are highly exaggerated.
Report contributed Jack Healy, Julie Bossman, Mitch Smith, Hamed Areaziz, Tim Alango and Ernestorondónho.
