Colorado governor vetoes legislation allowing ICE to be sued

By Liam Hibbert
The Center Square

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a Democrat-backed bill on Wednesday that would have allowed citizens to sue immigration enforcement officers for civil rights violations.

The Democratic governor’s veto comes amidst a series of vetoes against legislation passed by his own party. Questions of constitutionality surrounded the immigration enforcement lawsuits bill.

“I applaud the sponsors of this legislation for tackling this critical issue,” Polis wrote in his explanation of the veto. “Unfortunately, after careful consideration, I believe the legal risks of the actual language in SB 26-005 outweigh the potential benefits.”

The Rights Violation in Immigration Enforcement Remedy bill, Senate Bill 26-005, would have allowed Colorado citizens to sue federal agents who violated their civil rights while participating in civil immigration enforcement. Any legal action against federal officers would need to take place within two years of the alleged violation.

The Colorado bill came in reaction to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s crackdown on illegal immigrants across the country in Democrat-led cities. The bill was introduced before the highly publicized killings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by ICE, U.S. Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis. President Donald Trump said the killings should not have happened.

Wider legal questions about SB 26-005 have focused on its effort to govern federal officials. The bill could have presented a potential violation of supremacy law in the U.S., which says that contradictory local laws are trumped by federal law, according to the Constitution Center. Recent legislation in other states, such as a California law to require federal agents wear identification, have been blocked for supremacy clause violations.

Polis’ issue with the lawsuit bill, however, was that its focus was too narrow.

“This bill doesn’t apply to any other context besides civil immigration enforcement – including rights violations in protests, elections, prisons, or the workplace,” said Polis. “For example, even in the narrow context of immigration, the bill doesn’t cover violations of constitutional rights during criminal investigations in immigration.”

Polis added that he would have been more likely to support a more expansive federal official lawsuits bill. In fact, one was proposed in the Colorado General Assembly or legislature, SB 26-176, but several Democratic lawmakers joined Republican colleagues to quash the measure.

“Unfortunately, and despite the sponsors’ admirable and tireless work to move that bill forward, it died in the process due to overly intense and misleading lobbying from local governments and public entities,” Polis said of SB 26-176.

Polis, who has a reputation for being a centrist or moderate Democrat, has split from the Colorado Democratic Party on several major issues in the wake of his last legislative session in office, including the commutation of Tina Peters, who was convicted of election tampering.

“Reducing her sentence now, under pressure from Donald Trump, is not justice,” the Colorado Democratic Party said in a statement on Peters’ commutation. “It sends a message to future bad actors that election tampering has consequences, unless you’re friends with the president.”

The state Democratic Party removed Polis as a speaker at multiple upcoming party-organized events.

The Colorado Democratic Party did not respond to The Center Square’s request for an interview.