Colorado is the latest state facing a lawsuit from President Donald Trump’s Justice Department over their sanctuary city laws and policies.
The administration is suing Colorado and the city of Denver claiming that both the state and local governments interfered with federal immigration enforcement.
‘The United States has well-established, preeminent, and preemptive authority to regulate immigration matters,’ reads the lawsuit filed in federal court in Denver.
The DOJ has filed lawsuits in Chicago and Rochester, New York challenging the cities’ so-called sanctuary policies.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston went to Washington, D.C. in March to testify before Congress about his city’s policies when it comes to illegal and undocumented immigrants.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Friday against Denver and the state of Colorado for it’s ‘sanctuary city’ policies
In February, five structures part of the The Edge at Lowry apartment complex (pictured) in Aurora, Colorado were condemned after it was found members of the TdA gang had taken control
Johnston was joined at the House hearing by the mayors of Boston, Chicago and New York City.
A ‘sanctuary city’ refers to jurisdictions where state and local policies either shield or protect migrants without legal U.S. status from federal laws that require they be detained or deported.
Specifically these states and cities are accused of limiting cooperation between their areas and the federal government and in extreme cases prohibit law enforcement and officials from turning over information about legal status of those illegal immigrants picked up for crimes.
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s DOJ alleged in the lawsuit filed on Friday that Denver and the entire state of Colorado is in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution due their sanctuary laws.
While Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) enforces federal immigration laws in the entire country, the agency often relies on support and cooperation from local and state partners.
ICE often asks police departments and sheriff’s offices to flag to them any migrants they want deported from their jurisdictions. These offices usually hold the offenders until federal agents are able to take them into custody.
DOJ attorneys argue that the western state’s ‘sanctuary policies’ allowed Venezuelan gang members with Tren de Aragua (TdA) to seize control of an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado.
In February, five structures part of the The Edge at Lowry apartment complex were shut down and condemned after it was found TdA had taken control of large areas of the Denver suburb.
Local officials say Trump’s claims of a take over were exaggerated, but have admitted that this apartment complex was terrorized by the gang members.
Federal immigration enforcement agents detain a suspect during a raid in Denver, Colorado on February 5, 2025
Earlier this year, Trump had hundreds of migrants and illegal immigrants in the U.S. with links to TdA and MS-13 gangs deported to the notorious El Salvadoran prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center.
Trump has floated sending all migrant criminals – and even some American citizen criminals – to the massive maximum security facility completed in 2022 as part of a crackdown on a rise in gang activity in the region.
The lawsuit in Colorado lists defendants as Gov. Jared Polis, the entire state Legislature, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.
Polis’ office insists Colorado is not a sanctuary state and says his office regularly works with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies when it comes to immigration laws.
‘If the courts say that any Colorado law is not valid then we will follow the ruling,’ spokesperson Conor Cahill said, according to the Associated Press. ‘We are not going to comment on the merits of the lawsuit.’
