287(g) News from Colorado: Nash v. Mikesell

Jesse Paul, Colorado Sun, Feb. 22, 2023

"The Teller County Sheriff’s Office did not violate state law when it agreed to hold inmates on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement even after they posted bond, a judge ruled Wednesday in a closely watched case brought by the ACLU of Colorado that could have broad consequences. The lawsuit hinged on the sheriff’s office’s decision to enter into a 287(g) agreement with federal immigration authorities, which lets deputies enforce immigration law in exchange for training. Teller County is the only county in Colorado that still has a 287(g) agreement with ICE after the Colorado legislature passed a law in 2019 prohibiting state law enforcement officers from arresting or detaining people on federal immigration charges, which are a civil offense. The ACLU filed its lawsuit seeking to block the sheriff’s office from working with federal immigration authorities in 2019, and the case proceeded to trial in January after clearing several legal roadblocks. But Teller County District Judge Scott Sells ruled Wednesday that the sheriff’s office “has the legal authority to enter into the 287(g) agreement with ICE” and that Colorado law doesn’t prohibit the office from entering into the agreement. ... The ACLU of Colorado vowed to appeal the ruling. “We are disappointed that the trial court upheld the Teller County sheriff’s 287(g) program,” Mark Silverstein, legal director emeritus of the ACLU of Colorado, said in a written statement. “We remain steadfast in our claim that the sheriff’s program of enforcing federal immigration law violates the Colorado Constitution as well as a Colorado statute. We will now take this case to the Colorado Court of Appeals.”