DENVER — The Department of Homeland Security is responding to Denver's newest executive order, calling it "legally illiterate."
Mayor Mike Johnston's latest move bans agencies like ICE from using city-owned or city-controlled property for their civil immigration enforcement operations. The language expands to include “spaces that have traditionally remained off limits (such as schools, community centers, libraries, shelters, hospitals and other public-facing service facilities) must continue to be so.”
Denver
Denver mayor signs order that bans ICE from city property, protects protesters
Executive Order 152 also requires Denver police to detain any federal officer and remove them from an enforcement operation if they’re using “excessive force” against protesters, and requires Denver Police Department officers to have their body-worn cameras on and recording should the city need independent evidence in case of a potential investigation against federal agents.
Now, legal experts are weighing in on whether the order is enforceable or symbolic.
"The city, of course, is not just a government. It's a landowner. If it would like to prevent the federal government from using the land it owns, it is free to do so," explained Jonathon Booth, associate professor of law at the University of Colorado Law School.
Denver7 Investigates took questions surrounding the legality of the executive order to Booth, who acknowledges that the impact this will have on the community remains unclear.
"I'm not sure if this will end up having much of an effect, but if it is to have an effect, it will require enforcement. It will require local Denver police to go and tell ICE agents that they can't be staging for an operation in a certain location."
However, ICE can still stage operations in other parts of Denver, like privately owned parking lots, parking garages, and more.
Jazmin Chavez, adjunct professor for the Chicano studies department at Metropolitan State University of Denver, echoes Booth's sentiments, calling the executive order, "actually very legal."
"I think this is one of the better city executive order ordinances that we've seen across the country," she said.
The statement DHS issued says in-part, "No local official has the authority to bar ICE from carrying out federal law on public property — just as they cannot bar the media from reporting on city streets."
Booth says this comparison is not necessarily fair.
"I think the biggest difference there is that as journalists, you have a First Amendment right to report the news to be, you know, in public... That obviously does not apply to ICE... It's not protected by the First Amendment in the same way that protests or news-gathering is. I think that's an important distinction."
DHS's complete statement can be read below:
“This is legally illiterate. No local official has the authority to bar ICE from carrying out federal law on public property—just as they cannot bar the media from reporting on city streets. Enforcing federal immigration laws is a clear federal responsibility under Article I, Article II and the Supremacy Clause.
"While Mayor Johnston continues to release pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto their streets, our brave law enforcement will continue to risk their lives to arrest these heinous criminals and make Denver safe again.
For context, the most recent crime data shows that Denver’s homicide rate dropped faster than the national average last year, with the Denver Police Department reporting a 41% drop in homicides in 2025 compared with the year prior.
In response to DHS's statement, a spokesperson for the mayor's sent us the following statement:
Denver does not seek conflict with the federal government but instead clarity for our residents and employees. We have a Constitutional right to limit access on our property, especially if the agency in question does not have a court order, judicial warrant, or valid legal authority for attempting to use our space. Furthermore, Denver has never tolerated unlawful immigration enforcement on city property and with this order is saying loud and clear it will not do so in the event of a federal escalation.
- Jon Ewing, Spokesperson for Denver Mayor's Office
