In Colorado, state Attorney General Phil Weiser is the lawbreaker, not local deputies

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3 days ago

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By Hans von Spakovsky
Published August 07, 2025
By suing Mesa County Deputy Sheriff Alexander Zwink for sharing information about an illegal alien with federal authorities, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is blatantly violating federal law.
The Justice Department has already filed a lawsuit to go after the state law he was enforcing, which violates a specific provision of federal immigration law and the U.S. Constitution.
Not only should that state law be declared null and void by a federal court, but the two Colorado deputies and their supervisors who've been disciplined for this should be immediately reinstated and commended for their work.
All of this arises out of Zwink's cooperation with federal immigration agents as part of a drug task force. Zwink pulled over a Brazilian college student in a traffic stop.
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Shortly thereafter, she was arrested and detained by federal authorities because Zwink had "shared her location and a description of her and her vehicle in a group chat that included ICE agents." An "internal investigation" showed that another deputy sheriff who was involved in the task force had also – horror of horrors – "shared immigration information with federal agents."
OMG! What a crime! What a dastardly deed! Local law enforcement cooperating and sharing information about illegal aliens with the federal authorities responsible for enforcing federal immigration laws!
The two deputies have been removed from the task force by Mesa County Sheriff Todd Rowell and disciplined along with two supervisors, and a third supervisor who "received counseling" for these unimagined "crimes."
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All of this is the result of a Colorado state law signed by pro-illegal immigration Gov. Jared Polls that prohibits all government officials in Colorado, including law enforcement agents, from sharing any information about any aliens with federal immigration authorities.
The problem with that state law – among many others, including its effect on public safety – is that it directly violates federal law. 8 U.S.C. § 1373 specifically prohibits state and local governments from in any way restricting "any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from," the Department of Homeland Security, "information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual." Moreover, this federal statute also specifies that states cannot prohibit or restrict "exchanging such information with any other Federal, State, or local government entity."
This is not a complicated federal law that is hard to understand. States like Colorado cannot prevent deputy sheriffs like Alexander Zwink from doing exactly what he did: share information with federal authorities about an alien.
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Perhaps Weiser's law school didn't include a course on Constitutional Law 101? If he had taken such a course, he would have learned about the supremacy clause, which provides that the "Constitution, and the Laws of the United States… shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."
Colorado's law is a foolish, blatant violation of federal immigration law and a clear and obvious violation of the supremacy clause. Any actions taken to discipline or otherwise punish local law enforcement officers for violating this reckless state statute are unlawful and a violation of the officers' rights.
It's not just that Colorado's sanctuary law violates federal law. It is reckless, because it intentionally allows criminal illegal aliens to remain in communities throughout the state.
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A horrible example of this is Luis Gusman-Rincon, a gang member who entered the U.S. illegally and was convicted of attempted manslaughter in Arapahoe County, Colorado, after he shot and paralyzed a 16-year-old girl. He should have been handed over to ICE authorities so they could remove this dangerous criminal from the country after he had served his sentence. Instead, due to the state's sanctuary policies, this gangster roamed the state for five years before ICE finally caught him.
Or talk to the residents of Colorado Springs and Aurora, where Colorado's irresponsible and rash policies have led to an infestation of illegal gang members who are terrorizing local residents.
It really is hard to overemphasize just how stupid it is for a state to go after its law enforcement officials for assisting the federal government in removing illegal aliens, many of whom are dangerous criminals, from the country.
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Hopefully, the Justice Department will succeed in its lawsuit against a state government that is, it seems, led by thoughtless politicians.
Law enforcement agents like Alexander Zwink and his colleagues should be hailed as the type of professionals we want serving as police officers throughout the nation, not disciplined and harassed for complying with a federal law designed to keep us safe.
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Hans von Spakovsky is a senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation's Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and manager of the think tank's Election Law Reform Initiative. Print Close
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