THE GAZETTE: Polis’ actions belie words on sanctuary status

The day after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration detained 41 metro area illegal immigrants in a raid targeting Tren de Aragua — a Venezuelan gang Gov. Jared Polis called a “feature of (Aurora City Councilwoman) Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination” — presidential aspirant Polis decried in the strongest terms any suggestion that Colorado had become a “sanctuary state.” Responding to questions from KRDO, Polis stated “this narrative is false that Colorado is in any way, shape or form a sanctuary state. We are not.”

When pressed by KUSA, Polis insisted “(W)e work closely with … ICE … always have and we always plan to…”

Polis’ record tells a different story.

Coloradans should judge Polis not on his words alone, but on his actions since winning election. A fair review of Polis’ six years as governor leads to only one question: Could any single individual have done more to make Colorado a sanctuary state? Polis got to work immediately after being sworn in.

The first thing a state auditioning to be a sanctuary for illegal immigrants would do is to change its criminal code such that convictions for serious crimes would no longer trigger deportation by ICE. Noncitizens are deportable for convictions of crimes carrying a potential sentence of at least one year incarceration. In Colorado, convictions for misdemeanor child abuse and third-degree assault (including domestic violence) were punishable by up to two years of jail — before Polis.

On March 28, 2019 — less than three months after being sworn in — Polis signed a law (HB 1148) reducing the maximum punishment for misdemeanors, including child abuse and third degree assault, to an illegal-immigrant-protecting 364 days in jail.

The next thing a sanctuary state would do is limit the exchange of information between the state criminal justice system and ICE. Two months after reducing the consequences for criminal conduct by illegal immigrants, Polis signed a law (HB 1124) making it illegal for probation officers — assigned to those convicted of crimes — to share information with ICE.

A sanctuary state governor would use his position to pick sides between those here illegally and our federal immigration laws. On Jan 9, 2020, in his second State of the State address, Polis declared “we say loudly and proudly that we stand with DREAMers and refugees.”

Less than three months later, Polis signed a law turning our state courthouses into sanctuaries for illegals. SB 20-83 prohibited ICE agents from entering our courthouses to arrest illegal immigrants. The law even protects illegal immigrants going to, or leaving courthouses.

Then, 2021, President Biden’s first year in office, was a Katy-Bar-the-Door legislative session for Polis and those helping shape Colorado into a sanctuary state. That year, Polis signed a law (SB 21-131) making it illegal for any state employee to share data for the purpose of assisting in federal immigration enforcement. Further, the law forbade the state from collecting information about someone’s immigration status, because ignorance is bliss; you cannot reveal what you willfully do not know. Polis then signed a law (HB 21-1194) creating a taxpayer funded “Immigration Legal Defense Fund” for illegal immigrants.

Having hobbled ICE’s ability to enforce immigration law by gutting our state’s criminal code, prohibiting access to our courthouses, making it illegal to share information about illegal immigrants with ICE, and funding a defense fund for illegals to resist deportation, the next step in making a sanctuary state is to remove all the governmental impediments to being in our country illegally. In essence, treat illegals the same as citizens.

Polis’ signature on HB 21-1150 created the “Office of New Americans,” which conveniently defined “New Americans” to include illegal immigrants. That office exists to make it easier for illegal immigrants to navigate their way around life in Colorado. Also in 2021, Polis signed a law extending to all illegal immigrants: taxpayer-funded housing assistance (SB 21-1054), and taxpayer-funded state benefits, including mental health counseling, dental benefits, family services, and eligibility for subsidies for rent and utilities (SB 21-199).

That same year, Polis signed a law (SB 21-77) allowing illegal immigrants to obtain professional credentials, so they could compete for jobs with citizens in industries like hairdressing, massage, therapy, and others. Polis and his Progressive Posse were not done yet.

In response to law enforcement leaders like Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell contracting with ICE to use his jail to detain illegal immigrants, Polis signed a 2023 law (HB 23-1100) to end the practice.

The governor of a sanctuary state would use his pulpit to signal that illegal immigrants are welcome in their state. In his State of the State address just last year, Polis declared “whether you’ve just arrived or if you’ve been here for generation — you belong.”

As recently as Jan. 9 of this year — two weeks before the DEA raid—Polis used his State of the State address to point out an empty seat in the Capitol gallery to dramatically emphasize the “grim reality that…many other immigrants…are living in fear” of enforcement of federal immigration law.

Whether out of fear of the new Trump administration, or because he has again shrewdly assessed the political landscape he must traverse in his own presumed run for the White House, Polis has bellowed a whopper of a fib. It would be more accurate for Polis to claim he has a full head of hair.

Under Polis, Colorado has done everything it can to protect illegal immigrants from detection, apprehension and deportation, while at the same time inviting them to participate in government benefits and in our economy on equal footing with American citizens.

What more must Colorado do to qualify as a sanctuary state? Again, which single individual has done more to make us a sanctuary state than Polis?