Colorado has received at least nine subpoenas from federal immigration officials for information about Coloradans since President Donald Trump took office in January.
The nine subpoenas, obtained by The Colorado Sun through an open records request, show Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers seeking information including wage and employment records, names, birthdays and Social Security numbers from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Revenue Marijuana Enforcement Division and the Department of Public Health and Environment since February.
Earlier this week, the governor’s office denied The Sun’s request for the ICE subpoenas, but reversed course late Friday afternoon.
Four of the subpoenas cite investigations into crimes including human trafficking, smuggling and narcotics trafficking.
Colorado law bars state agencies from providing ICE with personally identifying information unless the request is part of a criminal investigation.
Last month, a Colorado judge determined that one of the subpoenas did not comply with Colorado law. That subpoena, sent by ICE to the state labor department in April, sought personal information about 35 sponsors of unaccompanied minors, claiming the information would be used for an investigation into human trafficking.
ICE sent one immigration enforcement subpoena to the labor department the day after the judge’s ruling seeking quarterly wages from 2023 to 2025 for an employer whose name is redacted.
Shelby Wieman, a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis, did not say whether the state has responded to the subpoenas.
“Subpoenas are carefully reviewed by each agency that receives them,” she said in a statement. “We are currently looking into this request.”
Immigrant advocates, civil rights groups, labor unions and Democratic lawmakers have urged Polis not to comply with ICE’s requests.
ICE subpoenas started arriving Feb. 14
ICE sent seven subpoenas to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, one to the Marijuana Enforcement Division, and one to CDPHE.
On Feb. 14, ICE requested from the labor department employment records from the previous year, citing an “ongoing investigation regarding Human Trafficking and Smuggling along with Narcotics Trafficking.” It’s not clear whose information ICE was after.
Less than two weeks later, ICE requested from the labor department “any and all information for employment records for the past three years” for a person whose name is redacted, citing “an ongoing criminal investigation involving Human Trafficking.”
On Feb. 28, ICE requested from the state public health department “a list of all individuals born in the State of Colorado on February 8, 2004.”
On April 24, ICE sent the labor department the request for personally identifying information, including wage and employment records and addresses, for 35 people who are caring for unaccompanied immigrant children.
A month later, on May 22, ICE sent a subpoena to the labor department for wage reports of all employees of a business whose name is redacted.
Five days later, on May 27, ICE sent a “controlled substance enforcement subpoena” to the Colorado Department of Revenue Marijuana Enforcement Division seeking “any and all records and documents” for a business with a redacted name.
On June 12, ICE sent a subpoena to the labor department asking for names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and wage reports from April 2024 to present for a business with a redacted name.
And on June 26, ICE sent a subpoena to the labor department for quarterly wage reports from 2023 to 2025 for a business whose name is redacted.
The April 24 subpoena was the subject of a lawsuit from Scott Moss, the head of the labor department’s Division of Labor Standards and Statistics. Moss argued that he and other Colorado employees should not have to comply with the subpoena because Colorado law prohibits state agencies from giving ICE personal information unless it’s part of a criminal investigation.
That subpoena is titled “Immigration Enforcement Subpoena,” says the feds wanted the information to locate the unaccompanied children to ensure they aren’t being exploited.
The judge ultimately found that Moss did not have to comply with the subpoena because it did not meet the law’s exception that allows the state to share information with immigration officials to aid criminal investigations.