An effort to further reduce local involvement in federal immigration operations passed the Colorado legislature last week and now needs only final approval from Gov. Jared Polis. 

If signed into law, House Bill 1100 would prohibit state and local governments, law enforcement agencies and jails from entering or renewing contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house people suspected of civil immigration violations, and from facilitating new private immigration detention facilities. 

ICE often detains people going through immigration proceedings to assure they attend their court dates or while they await deportation decisions, according to the ACLU. State and local agreements allow ICE to house these immigrants in county and local jails.

“Right now, Colorado taxpayers are helping fund ICE facilities and detention,” said bill sponsor Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont. “This runs counter to the values of an overwhelming majority of Coloradans and it’s time to put an end to it.” 

The bill would not prohibit the federal government from contracting with private companies to operate immigration detention facilities in Colorado — such as the GEO Group detention center in Aurora. The bill would also not prohibit local government or law enforcement from arresting or detaining undocumented immigrants for criminal violations.

The Senate approved HB 1100 in a 19-13 vote on Thursday, following the House’s 41-22 passage in February. 

In both chambers, all Republicans opposed the bill and most Democrats supported it. Four Democrats in the House and one Democrat in the Senate joined Republicans in voting against the bill. 

Opponents argued that the bill would incentivize undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers to come to Colorado, saying the state is unable to accommodate them.

Denver spent $12.7 million responding to the immigrant crisis

“As we’ve seen just recently here in Denver, it’s costing millions of dollars to be able to care for asylum seekers that came to our state,” said Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Fort Lupton. “What is the impact that has on the rest of our community? What is the impact that has on our resources, on our taxpayer dollars, on our first responders, on our hospitals? We know that these systems are already stretched thin.”

Sen. Dylan Roberts, the only Democrat to oppose the bill in the Senate, unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill in committee. 

Roberts’ amendment sought to allow government entities that have existing contracts with ICE to maintain the contracts until the agreed-upon termination date. Under the bill, these entities must exercise the contract’s termination provision by Jan. 1, 2024 or as soon as possible within the agreement. 

The amendment passed in the Senate Judiciary Committee with support from Roberts and the two Republican committee members, but Democrats voted to void the amendment when the bill reached the full Senate. 

“Allowing these intergovernmental service agreements to continue creates fear and distrust in community,” said bill sponsor Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, while speaking against the proposed amendment. “We are working to ensure that immigrant families are able to trust in local law enforcement, are able to know that their local jails are not collaborating and doing ICE’s job for them.” 

This bill builds on previous legislation passed by Colorado in 2019, prohibiting state law enforcement officers from arresting or detaining people on federal immigration charges.

If HB 1100 is enacted, Colorado would join other states including California, Illinois and New Jersey in banning or limiting intergovernmental support agreements for immigration enforcement.

The bill will be sent to Polis for final consideration in the coming days. 

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