DENVER — Immigrant rights advocates in Colorado are sounding the alarm after reports of immigration enforcement operations near a downtown Denver courthouse Wednesday.
In 2020, Governor Jared Polis signed into law a bill that bans U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from making civil arrests while a person is in or around a courthouse. But incidents outside the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse this week are bringing potential violations of that law into question.
"The spirit of the law says we want people to attend the court in a safe way without fear," said Jordan Garcia, program director at the American Friends Service Committee.
Garcia said that feeling of safety was ripped away when three people were detained by ICE while heading to court at the Lindsey-Flaningan Courthouse.
The American Friends Service Committee said one man was separated from his 12-year-old son.
"We're seeing our immigrant community have fear about what happened but also feeling a lot of curiosity, similar to me, [about] what our state will do to protect people who still need to show up to court," said Garcia.
An ICE spokesperson told our partners at The Denver Post, "We are not able to respond to rumors or specifics of routine daily operations for ICE."
Violeta Chapin, associate dean at Colorado Law, explained the law signed by Polis prohibits the federal government from interfering with state proceedings.
"ICE is well aware of our state law, I'm sure, and they clearly are acting despite that state law," she said.
Chapin sees what happened in downtown Denver as a clear violation of Colorado law. She thinks it could change the way courthouses operate.
"I do think that after this particular incident and all the press that it's received, you may see an increase in people both requesting virtual appearances and judges granting that request," Chapin said.
The law itself states that the Colorado Attorney General's Office is responsible for enforcement. Advocates like Garcia want to see if Colorado leaders will take that step.
"Our public officials, our elected officials, said that they would like to make sure these spaces are safe for people to go. And so I think we should keep them accountable to that and make sure they are taking steps in that direction," said Garcia.
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