Polis: Colorado Should Allow Local Police Cooperation With ICE

COLORADO – By Alex Burness for The Colorado Independent. It’s well known that Gov. Jared Polis opposes statewide “sanctuary” policies. He said so on the campaign trail and, since taking office in January, repeatedly has reminded lawmakers who’ve sought — mostly unsuccessfully, so far — to install greater immigrant protections in Colorado.

What’s been unclear, however, is what Polis means, exactly, when he says he’ll veto “sanctuary” bills that come across his desk. “Sanctuary” has no universal definition in the immigration context, and Polis has never explained publicly what the term means to him.

The Colorado Independent has tried for more than two months to interview the governor about his disagreements with immigrant rights groups and some lawmakers. But Polis has declined to elaborate and he’s held just one general news conference at the Capitol since his inauguration.
This week, he broke his silence.

The governor’s office has provided The Independent a “statement of administration policy” — a three-page document that offers the public the first clear articulation of the governor’s stance on the degree to which Colorado officials should be able to cooperate with federal immigrant enforcement.

Among the revelations: Polis would veto HB-1124 — the latest hope for lawmakers trying to pass meaningful immigrant protections this session — unless it’s substantially amended.

According to the policy document, the governor will not support any that bill or legislation that attempts to install any of the following:

• Prohibitions on state and local governments using public funds or resources to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in enforcing federal civil immigration laws; such prohibitions, Polis argues, would jeopardize federal public safety funding for Colorado, $2.7 million of which Polis and Weiser recently sued the Trump administration to preserve
• Prohibitions on ICE officials accessing secure areas of city and county jails
• Language that states ICE and Colorado officials may only coordinate in the interest of enforcing criminal law
• Prohibitions on the ability of the state or its political subdivisions entering into contracts that lead to employees assisting ICE in enforcing federal civil immigration laws
• Prohibitions on Colorado law enforcement officers arresting or detaining people based solely on the basis of a civil immigration detainer; “This politicizes or compromises partnerships between front-line level state and federal investigators, and will be counterproductive to building goodwill and working together to protect public safety,” the statement argues

In other words: Polis doesn’t want to do much in the way of restricting ICE’s ability to operate in Colorado. And if a local or state law enforcement agency wants to help ICE carry out its mission, Polis doesn’t want to get in the way of that, either, because he favors local control.

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