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Garfield County commissioners recently rejected a request of $50,000 from the town of Carbondale, seeking support for its response to the new immigrants, including shelter and case assistance. Carbondale has seen roughly 150 new immigrants come to the town since November.
The commissioners then went a step further at their Mar. 5, 2024 board meeting, by drafting and unanimously passing a resolution declaring Garfield a “non-sanctuary county.”
“The board of county commissioners declares that Garfield County is not a sanctuary county, and will not directly open shelters or provide services, other than emergency services, to uninvited immigrants or undocumented immigrants that may arrive in unincorporated Garfield County,” Commissioner Mike Samson read from the resolution.
Samson was also the commissioner who requested that the county attorney draft the resolution.
But whether a place is a non-sanctuary city, or county, isn’t really about providing basic services. The term was originally a legal description that limits how local law enforcement cooperates with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Here in Colorado, state law forbids local law enforcement from sharing personal information about undocumented immigrants with ICE, and bans jails and prisons from making agreements with ICE to hold immigration detainees.
Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario addressed the potential conflict between Garfield County and state policies at the commisioner’s meeting. He told commissioners over the phone that his office cooperates with ICE only to the extent allowed by Colorado law.
According to Jennifer Smith, a Glenwood Springs-based immigration attorney, it could have a chilling effect on immigrant communities regardless.
“And so what worries me about that language is it sounds like the sheriff’s assuming that any immigrant that comes into contact with law enforcement is someone that should be detained by ICE,” she said in an interview with Aspen Public Radio.
Smith said there’s a lot of confusion around what it means to be a sanctuary city, and why these policies were created in the first place.
“Sanctuary city became kind of a way for people to say, ‘hey, we’re not going to do these detainers and detention agreements with immigration,’” she explained. “‘We’re not going to use our local taxpayer dollars to do the federal government’s job.’”
But Smith said even if Garfield County’s resolution does follow the letter of the law, she’s concerned about the misleading message it sends. For example, it says people who “enter the country illegally” can pose a health and safety risk, like a rise in crime.
“In fact, multiple studies have come out that are nonpartisan… that's shown over, you know, years and decades that there's never been a correlation or causation between immigration and crime,” she said. “That's a false fear mongering kind of statement.”
There’s been a wide range of reactions to the resolution from the community, including anger and fear from local Latino leaders.
Alex Sanchez is the CEO of Latino advocacy group Voces Unidas de las Montañas, and Voces Unidas Action Fund.
“And so we've been here, we've been contributing, we've been working hard,” he said in an interview with Aspen Public Radio. “We’re part of the fabric of Garfield County. And it's shocking, for some people to sort of relive the fears that we've lived before. This is, unfortunately, nothing new. It's just another wave of an anti-immigrant sentiment that has sort of reached the highest levels of our government. But it’s nothing new.”
Sanchez and other Latino leaders are determined to make sure that not only do residents know their rights when it comes to law enforcement, they want to mobilize people to change the current leadership.
On Mar. 10, 2024, Voces Unidas held a rally at Sayre Park in Glenwood Springs.
“¿Se puede o no se puede? ¡Si se puede!” was a frequent refrain throughout the afternoon.
It means “yes, it can be done.”
Steven Arauza was one of the speakers. He’s the great grandchild of Mexican immigrants, and identifies as Chicano. He’s running as a Democrat for Republican Mike Samson’s district 3 seat on the board of county commissioners.
“I'm asking you to let this be a galvanizing moment for our community,” he said during his remarks. “To stand together as one. Against forces of hatred and fear. I hope that this is a moment to reflect on the importance of our local elections, and a reminder that what you do with your vote has a profound impact on members of the community who don't always share the right to do so.”
Arauza, a geologist by training who works in oil and gas regulation, also emphasized the importance of the Latino community to Garfield County’s economy.
“We are the backbone of the hospitality, tourism, construction, and other industries that drive this county,” he said. “We are the teachers, hospital workers, childcare providers, small business owners, and mechanics that make our communities run.”
In a county that’s roughly 30% Latino, Arauza is popular among Democrats, and has a good chance of replacing Mike Samson on the board of county commissioners.
If that happens, the non-sanctuary county resolution could be short-lived. But for now, the all-Republican Garfield county commissioner board has sent a clear message: newly arriving immigrants shouldn’t expect any support here.
