By Heather Willard | Fox31
DENVER (KDVR) — The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the state of Colorado and the city of Denver for laws and statutes the federal government says are “sanctuary laws.”
The federal government alleges in its lawsuit, filed in Colorado District Court on Friday, that the laws are designed to “interfere with and discriminate against the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law.”
The lawsuit specifically mentions the troubled Aurora apartment complexes that went viral after a video showing armed men in a stairwell was first reported on by FOX31’s Vicente Arenas. The men in the video were later connected to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that’s been publicized during recent immigration efforts under President Donald Trump.
The lawsuit argues that federal immigration law preempts state law. Colorado has a law that prevents local law enforcement from enforcing federal immigration law, among other things, and it has been decried by many law enforcement advocates and at least three members of U.S. Congress.
“But the Sanctuary Laws were enacted for the sole purpose of impeding the Federal Government’s ability to enforce immigration law and remove illegal aliens,” the lawsuit alleges. “These sanctuary policies have ‘tied the hands of law enforcement, emboldened dangerous criminals and left [Colorado’s] communities vulnerable.’”