The Trump administration has sued the state of Colorado and the city of Denver for interfering in federal immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, notes that “the United States has well-established, preeminent, and preemptive authority to regulate immigration matters,” and accuses state and city officials of violating the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by trying to prevent federal agencies from performing their rightful duties, the Associated Press reported.
The lawsuit states that “sanctuary” policies pushed by state and local authorities have led to the interference.
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Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) also blasted Colorado for allowing members of the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to take hold of an apartment complex in Aurora, a suburb of Denver.
Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) is named as one of the defendants in the DOJ lawsuit, along with the state legislature, Denver’s Democrat Mayor Mike Johnston, and the state’s Democrat Attorney General Phil Weiser.
Polis’s office said it would follow the law but would not bend just because of the lawsuit. “If the courts say that any Colorado law is not valid then we will follow the ruling,” a Polis spokesman said. “We are not going to comment on the merits of the lawsuit.”
The governor’s office refutes claims that Colorado is a sanctuary state.
“Colorado is not a sanctuary state,” Eric Maruyama, a spokesperson for Polis, said in a written statement, according to Colorado Public Radio.
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“The State of Colorado works with local, state and federal law enforcement regularly and we value our partnerships with local, county and federal law enforcement agencies to make Colorado safer. If the courts say that any Colorado law is not valid, then we will follow the ruling. We are not going to comment on the merits of the lawsuit,” Maruyama added.
“Denver will not be bullied or blackmailed, least of all by an administration that has little regard for the law and even less for the truth. We follow all laws local, state, and federal and stand ready to defend our values,” said Jon Ewing, a spokesperson for Johnston, in a statement.
Denver Mayor Johnston also refutes claims that the Mile High City is a “sanctuary city.” Johnston’s office further asserts that “no laws have been broken” and the federal government has “no grounds” to sue the city over immigration enforcement, Axios reported.
The DOJ also filed lawsuits against Chicago, Illinois, and Rochester, New York, on similar grounds.
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