Trump Admin Sues Colorado, Denver for Sanctuary Laws Shielding Illegal Immigrants

The complaint follows an executive order signed by the president cracking down against jurisdictions obstructing federal immigration enforcement.

Officers gather outside one of the condemned buildings of an apartment complex called The Edge at Lowry after a news conference to outline that the five housing structures have been closed by the city, in Aurora, Colo., on Feb. 19, 2025. David Zalubowski/AP Photo

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against Colorado and the City of Denver on Friday, seeking to end state and city policies that impede federal authorities in enforcing immigration laws.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on May 2, targets multiple state and local laws in Colorado and Denver, known as “sanctuary laws.”

These laws “by intent and design interfere with and discriminate against the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law,” the lawsuit states.

The policies violate the “Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution,” said the complaint. The Supremacy Clause states that in general, federal law shall take precedence over any conflicting state law.

The United States government has “well-established, preeminent, and preemptive authority” to regulate matters related to immigration, the lawsuit said.

Federal immigration law preempts state and local laws that limit information sharing related to citizenship or immigration status of an individual with the federal government.

“But that is exactly what the Sanctuary Laws do,” the complaint said.

“The Supremacy Clause also prohibits Colorado from singling out the Federal Government for adverse treatment—as the challenged laws do—thereby discriminating against the Federal Government. The Sanctuary Laws are themselves unlawful and cannot stand.”

The lawsuit cites Colorado House Bill 19-1124, as a problematic law. The law prohibits a local law enforcement officer from arresting or detaining a person only on the basis of a civil immigration detainer.

It also cites Denver Executive Order No. 142, which characterizes the city as “standing with immigrants and refugees.”

The lawsuit highlighted the immigration issue in Aurora, Colorado, where members of the Tren de Aragua gang seized apartment complexes last year.

The Tren de Aragua gang originated in Venezuela and later spread to other South American countries and the United States. Its members are known to engage in criminal activities such as kidnapping, drug trafficking, and human trafficking. The State Department designated the gang as a terrorist organization earlier this year.

The lawsuit lists multiple officials as defendants in the case, including Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat.

Polis’s spokesperson Conor Cahill said that Colorado is not a sanctuary state and regularly works with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

“If the courts say that any Colorado law is not valid then we will follow the ruling,” Cahill said. “We are not going to comment on the merits of the lawsuit.”

The complaint was filed days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that directs officials to publish a list of cities with sanctuary policies that obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

The April 28 order accuses some states of defying federal immigration laws. “This is a lawless insurrection against the supremacy of Federal law and the Federal Government’s obligation to defend the territorial sovereignty of the United States,” it said.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have been directed to pursue all legal avenues to bring non-compliant jurisdictions into compliance.

Countering Gang Activities

According to an Aug. 9, 2024, letter sent by law firm Perkins Coie to city officials, Tren de Aragua had begun terrorizing Aurora residents at an apartment building as early as November 2023.

“The gang’s [motive] appears to be to unlawfully move gang members, as well as vulnerable immigrant families, into vacant units,” the letter said.

“The gang, which operates in the open and uses firearms to patrol ‘their property,’ has intimidated staff, stabbed at least one vulnerable immigrant in the apartments because of alleged non-payment, and otherwise terrorized the community.”

The May 2 lawsuit from the U.S. government cited a Jan. 20 executive order signed by Trump, which warned that many illegal immigrants posed “significant threats” to public safety and national security.

“Further exacerbating this national crisis, some of these criminal aliens find safe havens from federal law enforcement detection in so-called Sanctuary Cities where they live and work in communities whose members may become their crime victims,” said the complaint.

“The fact that a foreign terrorist organization could gain such a foothold in the United States of America is unacceptable. But it is the direct byproduct of the sanctuary policies pushed by the State of Colorado, and certain of its subdivisions,” said the lawsuit.

“This is a suit to put an end to those disastrous policies and restore the supremacy of federal immigration law.”

In an April 29 statement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that during the first 100 days of the Trump administration, the agency arrested 66,463 illegal immigrants, which included 2,288 gang members, some of whom were members of Tren de Aragua.

The Associated Press contributed to the report.