A bill signed Monday by Gov. Bill Owens to prohibit so-called sanctuary cities has the Mexican consul general concerned about racial profiling of suspected illegal immigrants.
“What this bill does is allow each and every employee of local government to build their own policy based on their own beliefs,” Juan Marcos Gutierrez, Mexico’s consul general in Denver, said Thursday. “This is leaving a window open for any employee who has a personal agenda on immigration to make a decision based on racial profiling.”
The law prohibits any local government from approving ordinances or initiatives that limit police or government employees from cooperating with federal immigration officials.
It also requires law enforcement officers to report any person arrested for a criminal offense who they suspect is undocumented to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The author of the new law, Republican Sen. Tom Wiens of Castle Rock, emphasized that the law requires only law enforcement officers to make such reports of suspected illegal immigrants, not all government workers.
However, anyone can report if they choose because there is no law that prohibits it, he said.
“Enforcing the laws of the United States of America and the state of Colorado is not abuse,” Wiens said. “Ignoring the laws in the state of Colorado is abuse.”
Police and sheriff’s departments already report undocumented immigrants arrested on felony charges to immigration officials. The new provision would require that they also report suspected illegal immigrants arrested for misdemeanors and other types of crimes.
“The problem, here again, is that the concept of criminal offense covers a big array. Who decides what is reasonable?” Gutierrez said. “That makes it potentially harmful for the Mexican community, regardless of their immigration status.”
The consul’s office said it has received dozens of phone calls asking if police can now stop anyone and ask for documents.
Gutierrez has written to the governor, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and state Attorney General John Suthers asking for a better interpretation of the law to prevent government workers or law enforcement officers from “carrying out their own agenda.”
According to the law, if a city doesn’t comply, it could be considered a sanctuary city and would be denied grants by the Department of Local Affairs. Municipalities are required to report to the General Assembly how they’ve implemented the law annually.
“We have this huge debate that goes on every day. Certain people say certain towns are sanctuary cities, and they say, ‘No, we’re not,”‘ Wiens said. “This is going to end that once and for all.”
