Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit against a Mesa County sheriff’s deputy to require him to follow state laws that bar state agency and local government employees from cooperating with federal officials on immigration civil enforcement actions.

“State law specifies that Colorado law enforcement officers are dedicated to enforcing Colorado law and do not do the work of the federal government to enforce immigration law. In this case, the driver was detained by immigration authorities because of actions by Colorado law enforcement despite the absence of any criminal activity on her part. Her detention for over two weeks is directly due to this violation of Colorado’s laws. Because of this action, we are making clear that Colorado law enforcement’s role is to advance public safety, not take on the responsibility of doing the work of federal immigration enforcement.” – AG Weiser