The Post editorial: ICE officials last week rounded up 63 people to make a statement about so-called “sanctuary cities.”
The inevitable occurred last week in Denver and surrounding areas as teams of federal immigration agents rounded up 63 people to make a statement about so-called “sanctuary cities.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents didn’t limit their sweeps to the Denver area. The agency reported targeting cities in other states in its Operation Safe City raids and agents arrested nearly 500 people who were in the country illegally.
In many ways, the raids demonstrated that ICE officials have legitimate justification when pushing back against our broken immigration system. In Colorado, most of those rounded up were accused or convicted of serious crimes, ICE noted in a summary breakdown provided to The Denver Post’s Noelle Phillips.
ICE acting director Tom Homan said in a news release that sanctuary cities “are shielding criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and creating a magnet for illegal immigration. As a result, ICE is forced to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests in these communities.”
No doubt the broken immigration system is in need of reform. But we bristle at the suggestion that Denver is a bad actor in this dispute. The raids targeted cities that prevent ICE deportation officers from conducting jail interviews in person, unless the agents have a warrant, and cities whose jailers don’t honor ICE detainers.
As we’ve argued before, cities are in a terrible position when it comes to ICE’s request that inmates be held for 48 hours even if the inmates are to be released. Courts have ruled that ICE’s requests are a violation of due-process rights, unless, of course, the agents have a warrant. Cities that honor the re- quests can be sued and held liable for monetary damages.
In Denver, jailers let ICE know when wanted inmates are to be released. The professional courtesy has serious failings, as we’ve noted, but suggests a willingness to cooperate — and follows the law.
This summer, Mayor Michael Hancock worked with City Council members to stave off an ordinance that would have prevented jailers from extending even that courtesy. We argued that the council also should allow in-person jailhouse interviews even if the agents lacked a warrant, but the resulting ordinance instead requires a warrant and specific instructions to the inmate that they can deny the interview if they wish.
Obviously, ICE is not pleased. And give the agency its due. Those arrested in Colorado included people here illegally who should be deported. Among them were sex offenders, repeated drunken drivers, a gang member, thieves and domestic abusers. Nationally, 317 had criminal convictions, 68 were immigration fugitives, 104 had been previously deported and 18 were tied to gangs.
No one should be pleased with the state of our immigration system, and we again urge Congress to finally get around to ending the employment loopholes that entice immigrants to risk illegal border crossings and create a permanent underclass that finds itself constantly exploited. We also urge Congress to provide a legal status to those already living here illegally so they can come out of the shadows and work.
We had hoped that Hancock’s efforts this summer would appease the agency. But who can really be surprised that Operation Safe City officials relished the chance to prove a point? The members of The Denver Post’s editorial board are William Dean Singleton, chairman; Mac Tully, CEO and publisher; Chuck Plunkett, editor of the editorial pages; Megan Schrader, editorial writer; and Cohen Peart, opinion editor.