Colorado governor doubles down on sanctuary policy
Jason Hopkins on May 23, 2020
Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has restricted what personal information his state agencies will provide to federal immigration authorities, the latest measure he’s taken to protect Colorado’s illegal alien population.
Polis quietly issued new policy guidance on Wednesday, directing state agencies not to provide Coloradans’s personal data to federal entities that intend to use the information for the sole purpose of immigration enforcement, according to the Colorado Sun. The new directive ultimately prevents Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from obtaining such data unless they are investigating a crime or carrying a court order.
Per the four-page executive guidance, information such as social security or tax identification numbers, birthdays, driver’s licenses, names and addresses cannot be released to federal authorities if “solely related to federal immigration enforcement.”
While the new policy was handed down on Wednesday, local media was not made aware until Friday. The reason being, according to Polis’s office, is because the directive was not an executive order, but simply an internal order, and thus was not announced in a public notification.
Conor Cahill, a spokesman for the governor, told the Colorado Sun that the policy was “internal guidance provided to our agencies … and not an executive order.” A spokesperson for ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The new guidance marks the latest move by Polis, a progressive Democrat, to restrict ICE’s ability to enforce federal immigration law in the state of Colorado.
In May 2019, the governor signed a bill into law that prohibits state law enforcement from arresting a suspected illegal alien solely based on an ICE request. The law also bars law enforcement from providing a suspected illegal alien’s personal information to the agency, and requires state police to read illegal aliens their Miranda rights when conducting an ICE interview.
At the time, ICE told the DCNF that the new law was “disappointing” and said it violated Colorado’s “primary mission of protecting the public.”
“By signing Colorado’s House Bill 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,” ICE spokeswoman Alethea Smock said in May 2019.
Local jurisdictions in Colorado have released illegal aliens charged with crimes back into the public, citing the state’s law against cooperation with ICE. The Boulder County government, for example, released an illegal alien after he was arrested in January for multiple counts of sexual assault. Boulder ignored a plea from ICE to transfer him into their custody, pointing to the state law as the reason for doing so.
It’s not immediately clear what the federal response will be to the new guidance by Polis. However, after New York passed a similar law that restricted information sharing to federal authorities, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stripped the state’s citizens of its trusted traveler privileges.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
Scroll down to comment!
So: does Polis have a nickname? Like “Pancho” or “Pablo”?
I am as against overreach by the federal government as anyone you can name…but this is not only within the scope of the federal government, it is specifically addressed by the Constitution. This is absolutely a federal issue and the states can NOT ignore or disregard federal law on this issue.
Any governor who is thwarting duly passed federal immigration law should be arrested and frog marched out of their office.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis along with the other governors who allow sanctuary cities are BREAKING UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION LAWS and should IMMEDIATELY be removed from office!!!In fact, PUT IN JAIL!! You are all a DISGRACE to American citizens !! You have NO RIGHT to represent US in ANY CAPACITY!! How DARE YOU??!!! You use and give away OUR TAX PAYERS DOLLARS that WE have worked a LIFETIME for!!!
You should ALL be personally SUED by ANY CITIZEN who’d family is effected by ANY CRIME committed by any ILLEGAL!! There are PROPER ways to enter the US that MANY have followed legally!! You Governors set a disgusting example for those who abide by the law and you are double standard hypocrites to then expect ANY Americans to abide by ANY LAWS!!!
The feds should restrict federal funding to any state that continues with a “sanctury” policy.
There would be quite a lot of hopping reptiles in this country then, that’s for sure. (reptiles? amphibians?)
Agrre 100%… It says the Colorado directive is that The Feds can only obtain info if “they are investigating a crime or carrying a court order.” Well, trhey are all guilty of crime by entering the US illegally. Those favoring Sanctuary Cities, etc should fight to get the federal law changed (or elect candidates would pledge to do that), and then they’d have an argument. But noooo…!
Instead of focusing on getting colorado back to a sustainable economy. He must sit around and think of ways to screw co so we will be deined federal funds and put more persons in the bread line. Then falsely blame it on trump. He should be tared and feathered .
another enema bag democommie trolling for votes among the illegal aliens that they love so much..