President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to kick off a mass deportation of immigrants living in Colorado illegally is setting up a showdown in a state with more than a half-million immigrants — a state that leans toward inclusion rather than exclusion, and that relies on immigrants for a healthy economy.
In Colorado, 1 in 10 residents is an immigrant of one sort or another: illegal with no permission to be in the country; with green-card status; working with visa permits; brought here as children with “Dreamer” protection; and naturalized citizens.
Trump: Past & Future
The Colorado Sun is looking at how Donald Trump’s presidency may affect the issues Coloradans care about. We based our story choices on our Voter Voices survey and are using our past reporting to guide our coverage.
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All are now under an immigration crackdown cloud as some in Trump’s orbit are publicly stating that America is now only for Americans. Trump has said that millions of immigrants across the country stand to be deported and that immigrant roundups will begin with “Operation Aurora,” a sweep in the Colorado city that Trump has falsely claimed been taken over by criminal immigrant gangs.
Gov. Jared Polis is taking a tightrope approach to the possibility of federal officers and troops coming to Colorado to round up immigrants.
“We are always appreciative of federal assistance to make Colorado safer by prosecuting and deporting dangerous criminals. But we will not support deporting hardworking Americans and targeting innocent children and families,” said Eric Maruyama, a spokesperson for Polis.
Maruyama also addressed the economic devastation mass deportations would bring to Colorado. He said Polis is calling it “a recipe for a major recession” if farm and construction workers are deported.
Maruyama will not say how Polis plans to respond if Trump sends federal law officers to do a widespread immigration sweep in Colorado.
The talk of mass deportations has struck fear in the many organizations across the state that work with immigrants.
“Obviously there are no guardrails now,” said Kate Leslie, who works with an Afghan resettlement organization that has brought more than a dozen families to the Boulder area and about 2,000 across the state.
Ricardo Perez, the director of the Hispanic Affairs Project of Western Colorado, said “there is a lot of anxiety and uncertain feelings” caused by Trump’s promises.
Perez said his organization is trying to proactively address the current immigrant upheaval with the help of local officials and nonimmigrant populations that have contacted him to ask how they can help.
A big part of his job, he said, is helping immigrants manage their anger and stress. “We will need all our energy soon,” he said he tells them. He predicted there will be marches to protest the planned deportations.
For those who choose to fight deportations in court, there is likely going to be a snarled disarray in Colorado’s already overly busy immigration courts.
The U.S. Department of Justice has 10 immigration judges assigned to two courts in Denver and Aurora where around 78,000 cases are pending. The average wait time from a case filing to an asylum hearing is 747 days.
Trump’s new “border czar” — Tom Homan, a former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — has not addressed the clogged immigration court system. But Homan has warned all illegal immigrants they should be packing their bags. He said he plans to carry out deportations beginning with people deemed “public safety threats” and “national security threats,” and will call on local police for help, then lean on the National Guard, and finally call out the military.
Colorado has laws that prevent local law enforcement from working with federal immigration agents. The state also allows people living in the U.S. illegally to obtain driver’s licenses. Finally, the Democratic-controlled legislature has steered money toward nonprofits that help migrants.
These policies have some conservatives branding Colorado a “sanctuary state,” a term that has no real definition.
It’s unclear how much support the Trump administration will get on its immigration policies from Colorado’s Republican members of Congress.
U.S. Rep.-elect Gabe Evans, a Fort Lupton Republican, told reporters this week that his first priority is deporting people living in the U.S. illegally who have committed criminal acts. He’s less concerned about the immigrants who are “not causing major problems.”
“Until the border is secure, deportation doesn’t really do a lot,” said Evans, who will represent the highly competitive 8th Congressional District. ”
Evans also said he opposes separating the families of immigrants who are caught trying to enter the U.S. without authorization.
He also said he plans to focus first on immigration when he gets to Washington, D.C.
“The first bill that I’m planning to work on is a bill that is going to make sure that our law enforcement— state and local law enforcement — is again empowered to be able to work with their federal counterparts to get violent criminals illegally present in our community out of our community,” he said.
Colorado Sun staff writer Jesse Paul contributed to this report.