Golden – Members of the Colorado State Patrol graduated from a federal immigration training program Wednesday, making the patrol one of 16 police agencies nationwide with beefed-up enforcement authority over illegal immigrants.
While the Colorado State Patrol has embraced the program, some local police officials and civil-liberties advocates object to state and local law officers having a greater role in federal immigration-enforcement efforts.
Twenty-two members of the patrol’s new Immigration Enforcement Unit completed a five-week training course given by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trooper graduates will be able to carry out limited duties of ICE agents starting July 1.
“This will give more people the authority to deal directly with immigration violations,” Colorado State Patrol Chief Mark Trostel said.
The troopers’ jobs will not change dramatically – they’ll still mostly patrol Colorado highways – but their new training, which includes immigration law, will allow them a more direct role in the jailing and deportation of suspected illegal immigrants.
Troopers and federal officials said they envision the expanded authority mostly being used against criminals who travel Colorado highways to smuggle drugs and people into the country illegally.
“This authority will allow the (state and federal) agencies to work side-by-side to remove aliens whose criminal trails track through Colorado and endanger our communities,” said special agent Jeffrey Copp, in charge of Denver’s ICE investigations office.
But not everyone is comfortable with state and local police expanding their role in immigration matters.
“We oppose the federalization of our local law enforcement,” said Cathryn Hazouri, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.
“How do they determine probable cause in regard to a stop on an immigration matter?” Hazouri said. “If someone speaks a language other than English, that is not probable cause.”
Troopers said they will not target illegal immigrants, but instead will use their new powers as “secondary enforcement,” after a stop is made for another reason or when responding to an accident.
Some other local law-enforcement agencies are not inclined to follow the State Patrol’s example.
“This is an added responsibility that not many sheriffs that I know of are willing to take on,” said Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, president of County Sheriffs of Colorado.
“Many of us are concerned that the victim of domestic violence may not make a report, or the victim of theft may not make a report, because they are concerned about their immigration status,” Pelle said.
The State Patrol troopers who graduated Wednesday set a record-high cumulative grade-point average – 94.14 – for immigration-training classes nationally, officials said.
“It feels good,” said Trooper Shauna Swale, a seven-year veteran of the State Patrol and the only woman in the graduating class. “It makes me realize what a great bunch of troopers we have within this organization.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
