Full Sanctuary City

The Problem

ICE enforcement operations in Denver and across Colorado have escalated, terrorizing immigrant communities and destroying families. Undocumented immigrants - who pay taxes, own businesses, and raise American children - live in fear of deportation every day.

Current Denver sanctuary policies have gaps:

• Police still cooperate with ICE in some circumstances
• ICE conducts operations near schools, courthouses, and hospitals
• Undocumented residents avoid reporting crimes, seeking healthcare, and enrolling children in school
• Workers face wage theft and exploitation because employers know they can’t complain without risking deportation
• Language access in city services is inconsistent

Denver’s Latino community is over 30% of the city population (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023). Our immigrant communities are not an afterthought - they are Denver.

What Denver Currently Does

Denver has an existing sanctuary ordinance (Executive Order 136), but it contains gaps. Police can still cooperate with ICE in certain circumstances involving serious felony warrants. ICE has conducted enforcement operations near Denver schools and courthouses.

The migrant spending question: In 2023-2024, Denver spent over $100M on services for newly arrived migrants, including shelter, food, medical care, and work authorization assistance (Denver Department of Finance, 2024). This strained city resources and became a political flashpoint. Let’s address this directly: the cost was driven by federal policy failure: lack of work authorization, an overwhelmed asylum system, and zero federal reimbursement. Denver For All’s approach (municipal ID, rapid work authorization support, and language access) gets people working and paying taxes faster, reducing the cost curve. The alternative (refusing to help and pushing people into homelessness) costs more in emergency services and produces worse outcomes for everyone. Cities without sanctuary policies that received migrants spent comparable amounts because the cost driver was federal inaction, not local policy.

Who Opposes This (and Why)

Anti-immigration groups and some fiscal conservatives will cite the $100M migrant spending as evidence that sanctuary policies are unsustainable. Some business groups quietly benefit from exploitable undocumented labor and oppose protections that give workers bargaining power. Counter: the fastest way to reduce costs is to get people working, which requires IDs, language access, and legal support, not enforcement cooperation.

Our Solution

The Denver Sanctuary Protection Act

1. Zero Cooperation with ICE

• No city employee, department, or contractor may cooperate with ICE in any way
• No sharing of personal information, addresses, work locations, or schedules
• No honoring ICE detainers or warrants (which are administrative, not judicial)
• No allowing ICE to operate in or near city buildings, including jails
• No joint operations between Denver police and ICE
• Violation by any city employee: termination and personal liability

2. Protected Locations

• ICE-free zones: schools, hospitals, courthouses, churches, city offices, public transit, shelters
• City will not cooperate with any enforcement action within 1,000 feet of protected locations
• Signs in multiple languages at all protected locations informing community of their rights

3. Municipal ID Program (Denver ID)

• Available to ALL Denver residents regardless of immigration status
• Accepted as valid identification for all city services, library cards, and local businesses
• Application process does not require proof of immigration status
• All application data is permanently destroyed after ID issuance - no database for ICE to subpoena
• Encourages participation in civic life, banking, and healthcare

4. City-Funded Deportation Defense

• Denver Legal Defense Fund for immigrants facing deportation
• $5M annual allocation for legal representation
• Every Denver resident facing deportation proceedings has access to a city-funded attorney
• Legal know-your-rights workshops in every neighborhood, in multiple languages
• Rapid response network: trained volunteers who respond to ICE raids and document encounters

5. Wage Enforcement Regardless of Status

• Denver’s wage theft and labor protections apply to all workers, regardless of immigration status
• Workers can file complaints, testify, and receive remedies without fear
• Immigration status is irrelevant in all city enforcement proceedings
• Anti-retaliation: employers who threaten workers with deportation face enhanced penalties

6. Language Access

• All city services available in English, Spanish, and the top 5 languages spoken in Denver
• Real-time translation services at all city offices
• Multilingual 311 system
• All public notices, emergency communications, and voting materials in multiple languages
• Bilingual hiring preferences for public-facing city positions

International Evidence: Inclusion Works

The evidence is consistent: cities that include immigrants in civic life are safer, healthier, and more economically productive. Cities that terrorize immigrant communities pay the cost in public health emergencies, unreported crime, and economic exclusion.

How We Pay For It

• Municipal ID Program: $2M startup, $500K/year operations (offset by $15 ID fee)
• Legal Defense Fund: $5M/year
• Language Access: $3M/year
• Total: ~$10M/year - less than 0.5% of Denver’s budget, protecting 30%+ of its population

Protect Yourself Right Now

You don’t have to wait for policy changes to protect yourself and your community. The Constitution protects everyone in the United States, regardless of immigration status.

Save the Colorado Rapid Response Network hotline: 1-844-864-8341 (1-844-UNITE-41). If you witness ICE activity, call immediately. Trained volunteers will respond 24/7 to document the encounter and inform people of their constitutional rights. You can also call and press 2 to report a past incident. Learn more at coloradorapidresponsenetwork.com.

Download a Know Your Rights card from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center or ACLU Colorado. Keep it in your wallet and share copies with your neighbors. Key rights include:

• Right to remain silent. You do not have to answer questions about your immigration status.
• Do not sign anything without consulting a lawyer, even if documents are in your language.
• Ask for a warrant. ICE must present a valid judicial warrant signed by a judge to enter your home. An ICE administrative warrant (Form I-200) is not enough - you do not have to open the door.
• You have the right to an attorney. Ask to speak to a lawyer before answering any questions.

Prepare your family. The Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) offers a Family Preparedness Packet to help you take proactive steps to safeguard your family in case of an ICE encounter - including designating guardians for children, organizing important documents, and creating an emergency plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

“Doesn’t this encourage illegal immigration?” People don’t move to Denver because of sanctuary policies. They move for work, family, and safety. Sanctuary policies don’t increase immigration - they determine whether immigrant residents live in fear or participate in civic life. When people are afraid to report crimes, everyone is less safe.

“What about public safety?” Peer-reviewed research consistently shows that sanctuary cities are safer than non-sanctuary cities (Wong, 2017; Martinez-Schuldt & Martinez, 2019). When immigrants can report crimes without fear, police get more tips, more cooperation, and more convictions. ICE operations make communities LESS safe by driving people underground.

“Aren’t cities required to cooperate with ICE?” No. The 10th Amendment prevents the federal government from commandeering local resources for federal enforcement. The Supreme Court confirmed this in Printz v. United States (1997), and multiple circuit courts have upheld sanctuary policies, including City of Chicago v. Sessions (7th Cir., 2018) and City and County of San Francisco v. Sessions (9th Cir., 2018). Denver has no obligation to do ICE’s job.

“What about Denver’s $100M+ migrant spending? Can we afford more sanctuary?” Denver’s migrant costs were driven by federal failure to process asylum claims and issue work authorizations, not by sanctuary policy. Cities without sanctuary policies that received migrants (like El Paso, TX) spent comparable per-capita amounts. Our proposals (municipal ID, legal defense, language access) get people working and paying taxes faster, which is how you reduce the cost. The alternative is people without IDs or work authorization cycling through emergency services at higher cost.

“What about federal funding threats?” The Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. Federal courts have consistently blocked these attempts as unconstitutional (see: City of Chicago v. Sessions). The actual amount of funding at risk has historically been a fraction of what enforcement cooperation would cost the city in community trust and public safety.

References

• U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey (ACS), 2023. (Denver Latino population.)
• Denver Department of Finance. (2024). Newcomer Services Expenditure Reports. ($100M+ migrant spending.)
• Wong, T. (2017). “The Effects of Sanctuary Policies on Crime and the Economy.” Center for American Progress. (Sanctuary cities safety data.)
• Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997). (Anti-commandeering doctrine.)
• City of Chicago v. Sessions, 888 F.3d 272 (7th Cir. 2018). (Sanctuary policies upheld.)
• IDNYC Annual Report. (1.3M+ municipal IDs issued data.)