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Residents urge Wheat Ridge City Council to adopt enforceable limits on local cooperation with ICE
Summary
Dozens of residents urged Wheat Ridge City Council to turn a values resolution into enforceable policy, calling for bans on 287(g) agreements, requirements for judicial warrants, limits on use of city property by ICE, and masks/badge visibility for federal agents.
Dozens of residents told Wheat Ridge City Council on June 22 that a values statement alone will not protect immigrant neighbors and asked the city to adopt enforceable ordinances limiting local cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Moren Daly, a retired public-health physician, urged the council to “operationalize the core values” of a February resolution after recounting testimony she said came from a person detained at the Aurora detention center describing moldy food, delayed medical care and other inhumane conditions. Daly said the detention center’s operator, GEO Group, can earn roughly $150–$200 per person per day and that the county facility’s capacity suggests large public expenditure to detain people.
Speakers representing organized immigrant-justice groups presented a five-point request that included prohibiting Wheat Ridge Police from entering into any 287(g) agreements with ICE; banning collateral support for ICE operations; requiring judicial warrants for immigration enforcement in the city; requiring ICE agents be identifiable; and prohibiting ICE from staging operations on city-owned property without express permission.
Don Slavven, a longtime resident, described federal deputization mechanisms under section 287(g) and said Colorado law already limits certain information-sharing but does not prohibit other forms of cooperation. He urged council to consider liability and public-safety implications of local involvement.
Steven Ley, another public commenter, asked council to direct staff to draft ordinances to (1) ban face masks that conceal law-enforcement identities when acting in an official capacity, (2) prohibit 287(g) deputization, (3) require signed judicial warrants for cooperation, and (4) limit federal staging on city property — measures he said are “measured, constitutional, and consistent with what other Colorado communities are already doing.”
Other speakers described encounters they said involved federal immigration agents and urged the council to act quickly. Several commenters said neighboring jurisdictions such as Lakewood and Denver have taken similar steps and offered model language.
Mayor Stites thanked residents for speaking and council members acknowledged receiving the testimony. Councilors and staff said they heard the concerns and several council members requested a study session to review possible local regulatory options and next steps. City staff indicated any draft ordinances or formal agreements would return to council for deliberation and public hearings.
The public comment period did not include a council vote; commenters asked the council to direct staff to draft ordinance language and to return with proposals for formal council action.
