Department of Justice suing Colorado, Denver over "sanctuary" policies

White House suing authorities of Colorado, metropolis of Denver implicit "sanctuary policies"

White House suing authorities of Colorado, metropolis of Denver implicit "sanctuary policies" 00:53

The Department of Justice has filed a suit against the authorities of Colorado, the metropolis of Denver and a database of section leaders. The suit claims authorities and metropolis laws labeled arsenic "sanctuary" policies are unsafe and hurting the Trump Administration-led efforts to deport radical who are present illegally.

Donald Trump onstage successful October 2024 during a statesmanlike run rally astatine Gaylord Rockies Resort successful Aurora. RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images

The suit was filed Friday successful national tribunal successful Denver and states "The United States has well-established, preeminent, and preemptive authorization to modulate migration matters." It specifically mentions the arguable flat analyzable successful Aurora which President Trump claimed past year had been taken implicit by a Venezuelan gang. Justice Department attorneys reason Colorado's policies allowed Tren de Aragua to prehend power of the building.

Local officials person called Trump's claims that the pack had taken implicit ample swaths of the metropolis exaggerated, but acknowledged the flat analyzable was terrorized, including by radical linked to Tren de Aragua.

The suit calls retired metropolis ordinances and authorities laws similar the 1 blocking section instrumentality enforcement agencies from helping national migration authorities. It claims Denver and Colorado's policies "by intent and plan interfere with and discriminate against the Federal Government's enforcement of national migration law," arsenic stated successful the lawsuit's complaint.

The suit asks the tribunal to regularisation those laws are amerciable and a usurpation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

It lists the pursuing radical arsenic plaintiffs:

- Gov. Jared Polis
- Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser
- Denver Mayor Mike Johnston
- Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins

A spokesperson for the governor's bureau reponded to the suit saying they "will not remark connected the merits of the lawsuit" but declared that Colorado is not a "sanctuary state."

"The State of Colorado works with local, authorities and national instrumentality enforcement regularly and we worth our partnerships with local, region and national instrumentality enforcement agencies to marque Colorado safer. If the courts accidental that immoderate Colorado instrumentality is not valid past we volition travel the ruling," the spokesperson said.

A Denver mayor's bureau spokeperson released a remark arsenic well, saying the metropolis "will not beryllium bullied oregon blackmailed, slightest of each by an medication that has small respect for the instrumentality and adjacent little for the truth." It went connected to accidental that "Denver follows each laws local, state, and national and stands acceptable to support its values."

In March Johnston traveled to Washington DC to testify earlier the House Committee connected Oversight and Government Reform astir the city's policies regarding undocumented immigrants. Republican representatives grilled Johnston and mayors of Boston, Chicago and New York and said the cities' policies of not handing implicit specified radical who are picked up for crimes are putting constabulary astatine hazard and the wide nationalist arsenic well.

A spokesperson for the Colorado Attorney General's Office released a connection saying their bureau "is committed to defending Colorado instrumentality and has done truthful successfully successful the past successful this area. We basal acceptable to bash truthful again."

In February, respective section governments crossed the U.S. filed a lawsuit against the Trump medication implicit its crackdown connected cities with sanctuary metropolis policies. The president signed an enforcement order earlier this week calling connected the Justice Department to analyse sanctuary cities that don't cooperate with the Trump administration's migration policies successful an effort to withhold national backing from them.

There is nary strict explanation for sanctuary policies oregon sanctuary cities, but the presumption mostly picture constricted section practice with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE enforces U.S. migration laws nationwide but seeks authorities and section help, peculiarly for large-scale deportations, and requests that constabulary and sheriffs alert ICE to radical it wants to deport and clasp them until national officers instrumentality custody.

The Department of Justice has filed akin lawsuits against Chicago and Rochester, New York.