DA in Colorado urges crime reporting amid community concern over immigration policy

CBS News

24-02-2025

Don't be afraid to report crimes or ask for help. That is the message from District Attorney George Brauchler to the Douglas County immigrant community, but some community members say they still distrust local leaders who have vocally supported former President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
"I'm worried for our kids. I'm worried for our family as a whole," said Chad Cox.
The Castle Rock father knows his family doesn't look like everyone else in Douglas County.
"Challenges are just, you know, the stares and the remarks that you hear behind your back. Unfortunately, we've had neighbors in the past that have not been kind to us," Cox said.
He and his husband have five children. They had their two youngest, Allorah and Octavio, through a surrogate in Mexico.
"Both ethnically and citizenship-wise, they are dual citizens of Mexico and the United States," Cox said.
He says they chose this surrogacy program because it was a fraction of the cost of surrogacy in the US, and provided "about two years worth of working wages" to the surrogate. The children's surrogate and their egg donor are both Mexican citizens.
Both children have a "Consular Report of Birth Abroad," which states they are American citizens born in Mexico.
"I don't want to have concerns if we are asked for documentation or paperwork that they don't accept the CRBA because it looks differently than what a state-issued birth certificate would look like," Cox said.
Cox worries his children may be impacted by Trump's immigration policies and rhetoric.
"It scares me for my children in school. She goes to preschool, and what does that mean with, you know, if ICE were to show up at her school and want to see her because of, quite frankly, her skin color," Cox said.
Colorado law limits the cooperation of local law enforcement with ICE.
"Our law now makes it clear sheriffs can't hold people for ICE detainers. They have to have a warrant to come get them," said 23rd Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler.
Douglas County has challenged the law in court, and local leaders have expressed support for a bill that would remove those barriers. The bill, SB25-047, is sponsored by Republican Rep. Max Brooks, a former Castle Rock town council member. Cox ran against Brooks in the race for his seat in the state legislature.
"When you start talking about, quote, 'show me your papers,' really, what are you basing it off of? You're basing it off of somebody's skin color. And we don't need any more prejudice in this community. We don't need any more prejudice in our nation. We have plenty," Cox said. "When you fear monger, all it does is scare both sides of the fence. It scares people who think that migrants are here to cause crime and damage to our communities, and it causes our immigrants to not feel like they're a part of the community. They hide, they can't come out, they can't report crimes. If they have an emergency, they're scared to call 911."
"I've never seen someone go, 'Hey, thanks for calling 911 for help. Now we're going to try to deport you.' In fact, it would work contrary to our goal. Our goal is to get the bad guys," Brauchler said.
Brauchler says that even if state law is changed, victims and witnesses should not be afraid to come forward.
"What I don't want to see is there become such a fervor and zealousness for 'let's just kick them all out.' We're just here to kick them all out, that all of a sudden we've created a less safe environment because people will not come forward and cooperate," Brauchler said. "I don't care where you're from. I don't care whether you're supposed to be here. If you are the victim of a crime, I will treat you the same as anybody else."
Brauchler says there is no way to track how many undocumented immigrants are in his district.
Brauchler says his priority is public safety. He would like to see an increase in the availability of U visas, which provide temporary legal status to crime victims who cooperate with law enforcement.
"I don't enforce immigration law. That's not my job. I don't work with ICE in that way. I'm here to enforce the state criminal code, and so if someone's a victim of a crime, even if they're here illegally, you have my full attention and you have my full resources to try to bring you some kind of justice," Brauchler said. "That's going to happen. The other things that take place after that, I don't control, but to the extent that a U visa might help keep them on board with us to go do the right thing and get some justice for them, I will go pursue one. And I have done it before."
The assurance does little to soothe Cox's worries for his children and the immigrant community.
"There's already a distrust in Douglas County with local leaders and law enforcement, especially for people of color, and so I can't say that that relaxes their fears for them. It doesn't for me," Cox said. "I would really just wish they would focus on the needs, the actual needs, of our community and stop the fear-mongering. It does nothing to bring us together as a community. It does nothing to build the community. All it does is build up hate, it builds up distrust. It further divides the community that we have here."