Pueden encontrar la versión en español aqui.
A long-awaited immigration bill was released in Colorado late last week.
SB25-276 enhances several existing protections for immigrants in Colorado, maintaining data privacy for individuals seeking a variety of public services unless immigration authorities present a valid warrant.
The bill would prohibit political subdivisions and their employees from voluntarily sharing personally identifiable information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE would not be allowed at public schools and health care facilities unless those locations are open to the public.
The bill would also protect personal data for all Coloradans, regardless of immigration status, so they can enroll in public schools or get a driver's license without fear that immigration authorities could access their names and addresses.
Beyond data concerns, SB23-276 would also limit post-bond hold times and prohibit release delays in Colorado jails, among other protections. While most jails are required to release defendants within six hours of posting bond, the bill would restrict officers from keeping inmates in custody on behalf of ICE.
House District 57’s Elizabeth Velasco is co-sponsoring the legislation.
She spoke with Halle Zander about the bill this week.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length
Halle Zander: One of the big questions about this bill has been whether or not it would be enforceable. Is that a concern for you?
Rep. Elizabeth Velasco: Yes, of course. I mean, I think something that we have seen even with other laws, the law saying that ICE is not able to go to courthouses and pick up people. What we've seen is that they're getting people across the street.
We are adding penalties. There's a $50,000 fine for entities that are not following the law. And the funds go to the Immigration Legal Defense Fund to make sure that community members can access those funds, and we are hoping that that would deter bad actors.
Zander: So can you explain a little bit more about that $50,000 fine? Who would be paying that? What kinds of offenses is it targeting?
Rep. Velasco: Counties or municipalities or sheriff's offices that are not following the data privacy piece, because we're saying our community members have constitutional rights. To get detained, there must be a warrant. So these are constitutional rights, and those don't stay behind when we come to the U.S.
Zander: If this bill were to pass, do you worry that legal challenges might come out of the woodwork?
Rep. Velasco: Yes. I mean, I think something that we have seen in other states is that, blue states are being targeted, but if there's any issues, we definitely look forward to defending the state laws and the people of Colorado. So it is definitely something that could happen, but we already put that target on our back. The things that we do: protecting our access to abortion, protecting our public lands, protecting our trans community, access to medical care. These are all our values — values of Colorado. So protecting everyone that lives here, no matter the immigration status is also part of that.
Halle Zander: There's been whispers, rumors of this bill for a while that it was going to come out a lot earlier in the session. What took so long?
Rep. Elizabeth Velasco: We definitely have been working on these issues for decades with our advocates and have passed bipartisan legislation. But this year, really, I think we got to work right after the election, when we knew that there was a risk to our communities. And we have had hundreds of meetings with community members, with nonprofits, with all the different entities that would have to comply. with any of these mandates. It's been complex. You know, we are expanding transparency, to make sure that our community members know what happens if someone comes to a school and is asking for data or is asking for a student. This is a burden that we must not put on teachers. We must not put on workers. But if there's a policy and people are trained and they know what to do, we want to comply.
Zander: What didn't make it into the bill?
Rep. Velasco: One conversation we've been having is around the collaboration of ICE with other law enforcement agencies. This happens in very important things, for example, human trafficking cases, gang activity, fentanyl activity. There's multiple ways where there's a need for that collaboration, but the issue is that there's no transparency on. When is that happening? Why is that happening? That collaboration has definitely been something that we want to add clarity to. We're not able to do that in this bill, but we look forward to doing more.
We definitely are hearing the urgency of the moment of the issue with the Trump administration. I'm very, very proud that we were able to introduce and that now we can have these conversations in public. These are not closed-door conversations anymore. I am very excited. I do feel like it's a big step to be able to have these conversations out with (the) community, in the public eye.
Zander: Elizabeth, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time.
Rep. Velasco: Thank you so much.
The Colorado Senate still has to vote on the bill.
