U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is ramping up its operations in Denver, transferring special agents normally charged with long-term investigations to help target and arrest undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes.
The increased enforcement comes as ICE has expanded its presence in so-called sanctuary cities across the country that do not cooperate with federal immigration agencies, The New York Times reported Thursday.
It’s the latest in an ongoing tit-for-tat tussle between Colorado and the Trump administration over immigration issues, a dispute that has included a state lawsuit over withheld federal funding, the end to partnerships for citizenship ceremonies in Denver and refusals by city officials to attend events at the White House.
Alethea Smock, spokeswoman for ICE’s regional office, confirmed that special agents will be transferred to help with enforcement in Denver, but she wouldn’t say how many.
ICE leadership requested at least 500 special agents nationally to join the campaign in sanctuary cities, where they will be deployed in unmarked cars around homes and workplaces of undocumented immigrants, according to the Times report.
Smock said each region works differently and that she could not confirm what tactics the agents might use in Colorado.
John Moore, Getty Images
ICE agents detain an immigrant on October 14, 2015 in Los Angeles.
“In addition to the recently announced support being provided by (U.S. Customs and Border Protection), ICE has also shifted resources within the agency to address the increasing need driven by sanctuary policies to make more at-large arrests,” Smock said in a statement. “These at-large arrests require additional time and resources, and, as such, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations special agents are now being detailed to support ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations officers in the targeting and arrest of criminal aliens and immigration fugitives through routine enforcement actions.”
Mike Strott, spokesman for Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, said he had not heard anything about increased enforcement in the city.
At least one immigration group in Denver did not know the city was on the list for enhanced enforcement until contacted by a Denver Post reporter.
The beefed-up surveillance operations and additional personnel — dubbed Operation Palladium — began in February and will continue through the end of the year, the Times reported, citing an internal ICE email.
Thursday’s news comes a month after reports surfaced of elite immigration SWAT teams normally assigned to risky border operations being routed to sanctuary cities for the purposes of arresting and deporting immigrants.
That decision prompted 60 lawmakers in Washington to write a letter to the heads of the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, expressing their outrage.
Denver did not receive SWAT teams, Smock said.
In 2017, the Denver City Council passed ordinances preventing local law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities, part of a wave of cities across the country which have moved in recent years to protect immigrants from federal enforcement.
Colorado sued the Trump administration last March for withholding millions of dollars in law enforcement grants due to its immigration policies.
And in July, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began refusing to hold citizenship ceremonies with the city of Denver, citing its lack of cooperation on immigration enforcement issues.
