Denver enacts subversive sanctuary city ordinance
On August 28, 2017, the city of Denver passed an ordinance codifying their sanctuary city policy. It was passed 10-0 with 3 unrecorded abstentions.
The Denver government website page contains this announcement: Denver Announces New Public Safety Enforcement Priorities Ordinance. Also see a summary of the ordinance: Denver Public Safety Enforcement Priorities Proposal Ordinance 17-0940, August 16, 2017, and the Full text of the Public Safety Enforcement Priorities Act.
The city claims that the ordinance is "consistent with applicable federal law," i.e., 8USC 1373. That, of course, remains for legal experts to ascertain.
Jeffrey Lynch, the field office director for ICE’s Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations in Denver, issued the following statement Monday night:
By passing this irresponsible ordinance, the City of Denver’s leadership has codified a dangerous policy that deliberately obstructs our country’s lawful immigration system, protects serious criminal alien offenders, and undermines public safety.
Unfortunately, with this established policy, we can expect to witness more tragedies like we saw in the recent case of Ever Valles, a known gang member and an immigration enforcement priority, who was released in December 2016 by Denver County without ICE being properly notified. He was later arrested and charged with murdering a 32-year-old man at a Denver light rail station just seven weeks after he was released from Denver County Jail.
Our goal is to build cooperative, respectful relationships with our law enforcement partners. While we will continue our efforts to work with Denver’s city government in support of public safety, it is disappointing that they have taken such an extreme step in the wrong direction.
See these related articles:
Denver City Council passes controversial immigration protection ordinance - ICE calls ordinance 'dangerous', The Denver Channel, August 28, 2017, linked from Complete Colorado.
Denver elevates immigration stance with an ordinance that advocates hail as supportive but ICE calls “dangerous”, Denver Post, August 28, 2017.
As we would expect, the Post article conflates "immigrant" with "illegal alien," stating:
Legal immigrants, of course, are not at risk of deportation. Illegal aliens - who have evaded capture at our border - are indeed at risk of being returned to their home countries, ludicrous Denver sanctuary city policies notwithstanding.
CAIRCO Research
Sanctuary Cities in America, including Denver and Aurora, Colorado