The Trump administration sued Colorado and Denver on Friday, accusing the state, city and their leaders of impeding federal immigration actions, the latest salvo in the White House’s fight to compel local governments to help carry out deportations.
The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Colorado and includes Gov. Jared Polis and Mayor Mike Johnston of Denver as defendants, specifically challenges state and city laws that restrict or prohibit cooperation with federal agencies.
One state law prohibits officers from holding someone solely on the basis of a civil immigration detainer, a request that a detainee not be released. Other state laws prevent state and local officials from sharing information with federal immigration authorities and stop local jails from working with the federal government to house people detained for civil immigration violations.
The lawsuit also challenges a Denver measure that bans the use of city resources to assist with immigration enforcement, and a 2017 executive order from the mayor that aimed to “establish Denver as a safe and welcoming city for all.”
The lawsuit asks the court to rule the laws unconstitutional and prohibit their enforcement.
“This is a suit to put an end to those disastrous policies and restore the supremacy of federal immigration law,” the lawsuit said.
Many liberal-leaning states and cities have laws that keep local police departments mostly removed from immigration enforcement activity, as a way to build trust with immigrant communities. Democratic officials in several cities say that the policies help immigrants feel comfortable reporting crimes and interacting with health departments and schools.
But the White House and other Republican officials say laws like these, in so-called sanctuary cities, give a safe haven to criminals and endanger residents.
In a statement, the office of Mr. Polis, a Democrat, said that Colorado was not a sanctuary state and that it worked regularly with local, state and federal law enforcement.
“If the courts say that any Colorado law is not valid, then we will follow the ruling,” the statement said.
Mr. Johnston, also a Democrat, said in an interview that his city already works with federal immigration authorities by honoring requests to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement if what the agency calls a “removable alien” is about to be released from custody.
At the same time, Mr. Johnston said, he believes locations like hospitals, schools and courthouses must be off limits for immigration enforcement.
“What we know is we do not have thousands of undocumented individuals here with violent criminal histories,” Mr. Johnston said. “That’s the myth that’s been told.”
According to a survey last summer, overall public support for immigration to the United States decreased under the Biden administration. Some state and local officials are now tempering their language to describe sanctuary policies, and some have sought to loosen local measures that limit cooperation with federal officials.
But many officials from Democratic-led states and cities are also facing criticism from their supporters to push back against Mr. Trump’s hard-line policies.
The lawsuit against Colorado officials is similar to one the administration filed against Illinois and Chicago in February, and one against the city of Rochester, N.Y., filed last month. Both lawsuits are ongoing.
Litigation is only one part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to make states and local law enforcement do more to assist with deportation plans. The administration has sought to block funding from cities and counties that don’t cooperate.
On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order directing Pam Bondi, the attorney general, and Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, to publish a list of state and local jurisdictions that the administration considers sanctuary cities. It calls for pursuing “all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures” against them.
In Wisconsin, a memo instructing state workers to call a state lawyer if an ICE agent or federal official visits their workplace led to a sharp warning this week from the president’s border czar, Tom Homan.
“Wait to see what’s coming,” Mr. Homan said in response to a reporter’s question about the memo.
Gov. Tony Evers said he interpreted the comment as “chilling threats” that raised the possibility that elected officials could be arrested.
Last month, F.B.I. agents arrested a Milwaukee judge on charges of obstructing justice, with authorities saying she had directed an undocumented immigrant out of her courtroom through a side door while federal immigration agents waited in a hallway to arrest him. The judge’s legal team has vowed to contest the charges.
The Colorado lawsuit comes shortly after more than 100 people that federal agents said were undocumented immigrants were arrested in a raid of a Colorado Springs nightclub, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. About 50 of the city’s police officers assisted federal agents.
That city’s mayor, himself an immigrant from Nigeria, told The New York Times that he supported the arrests.
“This immigrant mayor says, if you’re here illegally and you’re committing a crime, there should be consequences,” said Mayor Yemi Mobolade, a political independent. “You should be deported.”
Mr. Trump also has long vilified another Colorado city, Aurora, as overrun by the Venezuelan street gang, Tren de Aragua. The sprawling suburb east of Denver was a touchstone for Mr. Trump on the campaign trail, and shortly after his inauguration, federal agents raided dilapidated apartment complexes there where immigrants had lived without working plumbing or heat. ICE wouldn’t say how many people were arrested in that raid, or if it had detained any gang members.
The lawsuit filed Friday once again invoked Aurora, claiming Tren de Aragua seized control of apartment buildings in that city as “the direct byproduct of the sanctuary policies pushed by the State of Colorado.”
Aurora officials have said those claims are highly exaggerated.
Reporting was contributed by Jack Healy, Julie Bosman, Mitch Smith, Hamed Aleaziz, Tim Arango and Ernesto Londoño.
