Judge blocks order directing Colorado state employees to comply with ICE subpoenas
State and city officials praised a Denver district judge's decision to block an order directing employees to comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement subpoenas as "a victory for everyone in Colorado."
The ruling comes after Scott Moss, Director of the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, filed suit against Gov. Jared Polis over the order, which Moss said was illegal and violated the community's trust.
Gov. Polis directed state employees to comply with an "Immigration Enforcement Subpoena" for information on 35 individuals who the Department of Homeland Security said were listed as sponsors of unaccompanied children in the U.S. illegally. The governor's office said the federal subpoena concerned potential crimes against minors and was in accordance with state law.
During a news conference Thursday, Moss praised the judge's ruling and said that the hearings revealed there was no evidence of any harm to children. He claimed the subpoena was an "effort to work with, and say 'yes' to ICE's overly aggressive deportation campaign against our community, against immigrants, drafting in state workers as the unwilling troops in the ICE army."
Director of Division of Labor Standards and Statistics Scott Moss addresses the press after ruling on ICE subpoenas.
CBS
He praised previous laws signed by the governor protecting immigrants' personally identifying information, and said that following the governor's order would violate those laws and break the trust they've asked immigrants to put in their public servants.
Laura Wolf, the lead attorney prosecuting the case, said they were deeply concerned that the governor's office did not notify the people listed in the subpoena that they were included or that their information would be turned over to ICE. "We pushed so hard on that in court yesterday, and the court said that it would be 'very problematic' if they were to ever turn over this information to ICE without first notifying these individuals so they could assert their rights," said Wolf.
Wolf called the judge's ruling a "huge victory" that made it clear producing information under the subpoena would violate Colorado state law.
"This victory isn't just a victory for Coloradans either, it's a call to action around the country. It's a warning to any governors, any mayors, or any state or local agencies thinking of turning over their community's private information to ICE. Your collaboration with ICE and against your own community will see the light of day. It won't be done in the shadows and the darkness, as was attempted here," said Moss.
Nina DiSalvo, Policy Director of Towards Justice, an organization that provides access to justice for workers who joined the lawsuit, said that protecting workers' rights would have wide-reaching effects on Colorado's economy. "Colorado workers would no longer be comfortable coming forward to address even the most blatant violation of their rights. If workers don't report, our economy will be caught in a race to the bottom in which employers who break the law simply get away with it and employers who follow the law cannot compete," said DiSalvo.
CBS
A spokesperson for the governor's office said they would abide by Tuesday's ruling, "We are reviewing the court's preliminary ruling to determine next steps in this matter. We will abide by the court's decision as we have always said we would. Governor Polis remains committed to fully and promptly cooperating with federal criminal investigations into child trafficking and exploitation, while protecting unaccompanied children in Colorado. We hope if information is needed for criminal investigations, that going forward, HSI will provide subpoenas for state information consistent with this ruling."
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