A new regulation in Colorado will quickly save your local governments and local law enforcement from protecting an inmate for longer than their sentence if you want to satisfy an immigration detainer request from federal authorities. HB19-1124, titled Protect Colorado Residents From Federal Government Overreach, changed into signed into law by Governor Polis this week. Unfortunately, this very last version, which was passed by the Colorado General Assembly, is watered down from the original, reportedly at the request of Gov. Polis, who might no longer signal an invoice putting forward Colorado as a sanctuary kingdom.
WHAT THE LAW PROHIBITS
The law prohibits government employees from honoring immigration detainer requests or keeping someone in prison for immigration authorities if they’re already eligible for release. This consists of someone who’s now not going through criminal fees, has served all in their sentence(s), has posted bond, has been granted pretrial diversion, or is in any other case eligible for release under state or municipal law. Furthermore, law enforcement can not, without a federal warrant or writ, make an arrest or detain someone based on a federal immigration violation, nor can they bypass information about a person’s immigration status to the federal government.
The act developing the law states, “Requests for civil immigration detainers are not warrants under Colorado law… None of the civil immigration detainer requests received from the federal immigration government are reviewed, authorized, or signed by a judge as required by Colorado regulation. Therefore, the continued detention of an inmate at the request of federal immigration government past when she or he would in any other case be released constitutes a warrantless arrest, which is unconstitutional.”
The act creating the regulation states, “Colorado regulation expressly limits the power of sheriffs to impose crooked law, make arrests for violations of crooked law, and house prisoners for violations of criminal law.”
WHAT THE LAW DOES NOT PROHIBIT
Local law enforcement will nevertheless be allowed to execute search warrants if an order was issued by a state or federal court. It can even no longer restrict law enforcement from entering into or maintaining agreements with the federal government to transport prisoners held for criminal violations or from attractive in the investigation and enforcement of neighborhood, state, and federal criminal laws. Federal immigration authorities could be allowed to behavior phone or video interviews with detainees or prisoners who are advised of their right to remain silent, proper to talk to an attorney, and that anything they say can and will be used against them in a court of law.
Prior variations of the bill covered no longer allowing federal immigration government access to all and sundry in custody without a warrant or writ from a federal judge. There is also a provision prohibiting contracts or agreements to assist the federal immigration government. Earlier this year, the Teller County Sheriff’s Office entered into such an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help decide whether or not criminals delivered into the prison are in u. S. Legally.
