DENVER, Colo. (Feb. 28, 2017) – Last week, a Colorado House committee killed a bill that would have hindered so-called “sanctuary cities” that refuse to cooperate with enforcement of some federal immigration laws.
Rep. Dave Williams (R-Colorado Springs) sponsored House Bill 1134 (HB1134) The legislation would have prohibited local governments from adopting any policy or taking any action that barred an elected official, employee, or law enforcement officer from communicating or cooperating with federal immigration enforcement officers. The legislation would also have allowed victims of certain crimes committed by people in the country illegally to sue politicians who refused to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
On Feb. 23, the State, Veterans, and Military Affairs voted 6-3 to kill the legislation.
Similar bills recently passed the Texas Senate and the Pennsylvania Senate.
BACKGROUND
Some U.S. cities, and the state of California, have refused to participate in a narrow segment of federal immigration enforcement. In all of these situations, government and law enforcement agencies in these cities don’t actively stop ICE from enforcing immigration laws. However, in a narrow sense, they simply don’t provide any support or assistance to federal agents. These cities leave it to the federal government to enforce federal law.
Non-cooperation with federal enforcement rests on a well-established legal principle known as the anti-commandeering doctrine. Simply put, the federal government cannot force states or their political subdivisions to help implement or enforce any federal act or regulatory program.
It would appear that Pres. Trump recognizes this as well. In his Jan. 25 Executive Order on “sanctuary jurisdictions,” he acknowledges that his policy of having state and local agents act as interior federal immigration enforcement will be done “with the consent of State or local officials.”
HB1134 would have been a constitutional way to force cities in Colorado to help enforce immigration laws. The federal government cannot do it do it. But if a state decides it wants to spend its time, money and resources assisting the federal government, they can certainly make that choice.