WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Chairman Tom McClintock (R-CA), and Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) sent letters to Denver District Attorney John Walsh, Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins, and Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas demanding information on their offices' sanctuary policies that prioritize criminal and illegal aliens over American citizens and threaten public safety.

DA Walsh gives preferential treatment to illegal alien defendants so they can avoid deportation and remain in the United States indefinitely. As a result, illegal alien criminals are allowed to freely operate, terrorize local communities, and reoffend without consequences. Additionally, for years, the Denver Sheriff Department has been prohibited from complying with simple detainer requests, imperiling the community and law enforcement in the process.

In one instance from last year, the Denver Sheriff Office released Abraham Smith Gonzalez, a criminal alien and suspected Tren de Aragua gang member, instead of honoring an ICE detainer. As a result, when ICE officers attempted to arrest the alien outside a Denver jail, the Venezuelan national assaulted one officer. The alien had been in DSD custody for nearly a year after he was charged with aggravated assault, motor vehicle theft, felony menacing, and other crimes. If DSD had been allowed to honor the immigration detainer, ICE officers could have taken custody of the alleged gang member in a controlled environment instead of in the community.

In just the past month, ICE has warned that three criminal aliens are now at-large in the Denver area because local law enforcement has not been permitted to honor ICE detainers. The aliens were previously arrested for crimes including child abuse, assault with a weapon, burglary, theft, possession of a controlled substance, selling cocaine, resisting arrest, and failure to appear. Like other sanctuary jurisdictions the Committee has examined, the shielding of criminal aliens from immigration enforcement in Denver undermines public safety and thwarts the efficient enforcement of federal law.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Chairman Tom McClintock (R-CA) also sent letters to Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson, and Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn demanding information on their offices' dangerous sanctuary policies.

During Dougherty's tenure, the Boulder County District Attorney's Office has routinely undermined the rule of law under the guise of safeguarding the public. His office prohibits information sharing with ICE and is even "willing to move court dates for a defendant if there is a fear that immigration officials will use the time of the court date to attempt to locate an individual."

Dougherty has also suggested restricting ICE's access to Colorado law enforcement's license plate recognition technology, even though such technology can be used against U.S. citizens.

Dougherty's office also openly gives preferential treatment to aliens based solely on their immigration status, and permits consideration of immigration consequences in cases involving violent offenses, vehicular fatalities, and "[a]ggravated or violent sexual factual basis offenses." The Boulder County District Attorney's Office's policies aim to shield criminal aliens from accountability and ultimately imperil Colorado communities.

Read the letter to Denver DA Walsh here.

Read the letter to Denver Police Chief Thomas here.

Read the letter to Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins here.

Read the letter to Boulder DA Dougherty here.

Read the letter to Boulder County Sheriff Johnson here.

Read the letter to Boulder Police Chief Redfearn here.

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