By NATE WARRACHART
The jurisdiction of federal immigration officials in the state of Colorado is under debate. Earlier this year, the ACLU of Colorado filed lawsuits against two Colorado sheriffs over a dispute on whether the sheriffs could keep people in jail at the request of officials from the department of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The cases could end up before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals after two state judges made contradictory rulings.
During booking, a prisoner’s fingerprints and other information are sent to a Homeland Security database. If the prisoner is flagged as potentially having an immigration issue, ICE sends a detainer request to the sheriff of the jail. In 2014, county sheriffs wrote a public statement detailing why they did not believe they had the authority to hold people suspected of being illegal aliens on requests from ICE. Since then, it has become common practice among the state’s 64 sheriffs to ignore detainer requests.
However, last year, El Paso County Sheriff Bill Elder started holding people with potential immigration issues. In response, the ACLU filed a class-action lawsuit against him, accusing him of unlawfully imprisoning people at ICE’s request. El Paso District Court Judge Eric Bentley granted the ACLU’s request for a preliminary injunction, which made Elder unable to hold immigrants unless they were served warrants by a federal judge.
This past summer, the ACLU sued Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell for the same reason. This time, however, Teller County District Judge Linda Billings-Vela denied the motion for a preliminary injunction, meaning Mikesell is allowed to keep holding people at the request of ICE.
The previous disregard of detainer requests has been controversial, especially when a person released from jail with a detainer request goes on to commit another crime. In February of last year, the Denver Sheriff Department came under heavy scrutiny when Ever Valles, an alleged gang member, was arrested for the murder and robbery of 32-year-old Tim Cruz at a train station. Valles had earlier been released from the Downtown Detention Center despite an ICE detainer request.
The ACLU argues that sheriffs are violating a law that prohibits warrantless arrests; law enforcement can only make an arrest if they have established probable cause. Colorado’s ACLU legal director said detainer requests are “depriving someone of their freedom for a new reason.”
On the other hand, Sheriff Jason Mikesell said that, “This is an agenda to protect our citizens. We believe there is a need to stand on morals and ethical values and not allow the ACLU to intimidate law enforcement agencies.”
One ethical dilemma of detainer requests, as pointed out by Brendan Greene, director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, is that immigrants who are crime victims will be less likely and afraid to report crime or call for help if they believe local law enforcement is working with ICE. “When sheriffs go out of their way to collaborate with ICE, that community trust is broken,” Green said. The cases are expected to end up before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the contentious issue has the potential to reach the Supreme Court.