The Denver City Council and Mayor Michael Hancock have proposed a new ordinance which would further limit cooperation between Denver local law enforcement and ICE. The sanctuary city currently does not honor ICE detainer requests and this new policy would limit ICE’s ability to work within Denver’s local jails to interview and apprehend criminal illegal aliens.
The new policy would prohibit immigration agents from interviewing a criminal alien in the city jails without a warrant. Under this new policy Denver jail officials are required to notify and advise criminal aliens wanted by ICE of their legal rights and to track what happens to them once they are in ICE’s custody.
The policy stops short of cutting off all communication with ICE since law enforcement officials are still allowed to notify ICE when one of the criminal aliens wanted on an ICE detainer is a about to be released. Mayor Hancock pushed for this compromise in an effort to keep federal grant money and so that ICE would not send more immigration agents into the city.
However, the policy could still make the city ineligible for Byrne Jag federal grants since it limits ICE’s access to the jail facilities. According to DOJ records, Denver received a total of $426,590 from the Byrne program last year.
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