As Colorado combats rising gang violence from illegal immigration, six counties are suing the state over a law they say hobbles their ability to tackle migrant crime.
Those counties are battling a state law that prohibits local law enforcement from communicating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The issue is boiling over in the region as at least one Denver suburb is seeing an unprecedented influx of transnational gang activity and armed migrants were recently seen taking over an apartment complex.
El Paso, Elbert, Garfield, Mesa and Rio Blanco counties joined Douglas County in a lawsuit against the state and its governor in April. They argue that HB119-1124, which prohibits local governments from cooperating with the federal government for immigration enforcement, violates the state constitution and is in violation of the U.S. Supremacy Clause, which outlaws state laws from violating federal ones.
"Our local law enforcement would like the ability to communicate with local immigration officials," Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon said. "We have been apprised that there has absolutely been an increase in property crimes, assault and trafficking, and it's specific issues with the cartels coming out of Venezuela."
"[Colorado has] rendered us feeling like we don't have the tools necessary, and that's incredibly frustrating," El Paso County Commissioner Carrie Geitner said.
SANCTUARY CITY'S POLICIES PUSH VIOLENT MIGRANT GANG INTO SUBURBS: 'IT'S A NATIONWIDE PROBLEM'
In 2019, the bill passed through the state's House of Representatives, 36-28, with nearly every Republican representative voting nay. Several Democrats also opposed the bill.
That May, the bill passed through the state Senate in another party-line vote and into law, 20-15, with one Democrat also opposing.
The counties also argue against HB23-1100, which prohibits local governments from entering into intergovernmental agreements with ICE or another federal body to get around the law. This law was enacted after nearby Teller County, which is not involved in the suit, entered a 287 (g) agreement with ICE to hold migrants arrested there. Colorado's appeals court ruled the practice illegal under state law.
"Even before we decided to get into this lawsuit, we had encouraged Denver to consider what they might be attracting to our area," Geitner told Fox News Digital. "It's a huge concern. We're watching it trickle out, and we've been ringing the alarm bells on this for the last couple years."
Officials in Aurora, a city within Douglas County nine miles east of Denver, previously told Fox News Digital that the notorious Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua had developed a strong foothold in their community, putting "entire apartment complexes under gang control."
Days later, video went viral of armed members of the gang storming an Aurora apartment complex just before a shoot-out occurred in the parking lot.
AFTER VIDEO OF ARMED VENEZUELAN GANG SHARED BY LOCAL OFFICIAL GOES VIRAL, COLORADO CITY TAKES ACTION
"Parts of the city are absolutely under this gang control. The local media is downplaying this," Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky said. "I believe politics is being played with people's lives. ... Nothing is being done to help the American citizens that are being trapped under this gang's control."
The handful of red counties suing Colorado don't share the sanctuary city policies that brought more than 40,000 migrants to Denver, and several instituted their own laws in an effort to barricade themselves against migrant populations expanding outward. Douglas County, for example, outlawed unscheduled buses from stopping in their community, threatening to fine each bus up to $1,000.
"We feel that it simply doesn't make any sense for a law enforcement agency to not have the ability to work with any other law enforcement agency but then have a restriction on our ability to work with immigration," El Paso County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf said of his county's decision to join the lawsuit.
AURORA POLICE REACT TO ALLEGED VENEZUELAN GANG PRESENCE AT APARTMENTS: 'HAVE NOT TAKEN OVER'
"It's been decades and decades and decades of working with them just to help a community be safer. Then this law was passed, and it simply makes no sense to us – we don't think it's appropriate."
VanderWerf told Fox News Digital that in one instance, a man arrested on probable cause for child molestation was found to be an illegal immigrant.
"What used to happen before was that they would communicate with ICE and ICE would issue a warrant for a hold. Then we would hold that person until ICE could come to our jail, and they could pick them up," VanderWerf said.
"Instead, [this person] went to a hearing and a judge set bail. This person paid that bail and then was released. He has disappeared. We have no idea where that person is. That person is not re-engaging with law enforcement."
Geitner told Fox News Digital that although it is "frustrating" to see Aurora's gang problem in national news headlines after years of warning Denver of this sort of outcome, it is also "encouraging" that people are being shown "what is going on."
"The local media doesn't want to cover a lot of what's been happening [with migrant crime]," she said. "We have local media that still have not acknowledged the problems that have been created.
"It's incredibly frustrating to be in a state where our state government is completely ignoring reality. We have been telling our state government this is very problematic. I hope that they will take note. I don't have a lot of confidence. We are seeing the leadership in our state not wanting to accept reality."
"People need to know what's happening, they need to know the effects of these policies. We're asking our states, we're asking our federal government, please fix the border, please fix the problem," Geitner said, adding that she "never thought we'd be having a discussion about the effects of having an open border in our community" when she took office in 2018.
Democrat Gov. Jared Polis could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit.
Chris Swecker, the former head of the FBI's criminal investigation division, previously told Fox News Digital that this influx of gang members was "predictable and preventable" and that federal law enforcement agencies would be needed to combat it.
"At this point, federal agencies should get involved," he added. "The bureau has to get involved with ATF and DEA, share their intelligence and approach this as an international crime problem."
