DENVER — A whistleblower filed a lawsuit against Colorado Governor Jared Polis Wednesday, accusing the governor of ordering him and other state employees to turn over sensitive information to federal immigration authorities in violation of state law.
Denver7 dug into the lawsuit and got answers from the governor’s office.
“My first reaction was of shock and concern,” said Nicole Cervera Loy, the policy and campaign manager at the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC). “It feels like a betrayal of the trust that we work so hard to build with the community and with the governor's office."
The lawsuit was filed in Denver County Court on behalf of Scott Moss, the director of the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics in the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
- Read the full lawsuit below
According to the lawsuit, the state received a subpoena from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on April 24, requesting information about people providing homes to unaccompanied minors. Moss's lawyers noted the subpoena was “neither issued, approved, nor signed by a judge or magistrate judge.”
Moss believed giving ICE the information would violate state laws that ban state and local government agencies from sharing personal information with federal immigration officials.
"If this data is handed to ICE without legal justification, the sponsors and families of these unaccompanied minors may face detention, family separation, and deportation,” Cervera Loy said.
After some internal debate, Moss's attorneys claim Polis “personally decided” the state would honor ICE’s request, directing state employees to provide the information by June 6. The lawsuit describes the move as “illegal” and “dangerous.”
Moss’s attorneys said their client and other state employees were put in a difficult situation: illegally providing personal identifying information of the sponsors or refusing to comply with the governor’s directive, risking termination.
Cervera Loy said if the allegations are true, she’s disappointed in the governor for directing state employees to provide the information to federal immigration authorities. She said the alleged directive came mere days after Polis signed Senate Bill 25-276, which provides additional protections to immigrants.
“At the time, he publicly embraced the principles of the law,” Cervera Loy said. “For him to reverse course behind closed doors, ignoring both state law and community trust, sends a very dangerous message to our community members that our rights can be tradable.”
The governor's office said the subpoena was concerning a criminal investigation involving child exploitation. A spokesperson said the state's immigrant privacy laws make an exception for criminal investigations, and the governor made the correct decision.
“Child exploitation has no place in Colorado, and we are not a sanctuary state. And we are committed to partnering on criminal investigations with local and federal partners, including to protect against human trafficking and child exploitation,” said Conor Cahill, the governor’s communications director. “Helping federal law enforcement partners locate and, if necessary, rescue children being abused and trafficked is not only in line with the law but also a moral imperative. We expect the courts will agree. We are committed to protecting Personal Identifying Information (PII) with regard to purely civil matters.”
Laura Wolf, one of Moss’s attorneys, sent Denver7 a statement late Friday, pushing back against claims by the governor’s office.
“ICE never claimed nor showed evidence of crimes against children,” said Wolf. “ICE admits it wants the state’s help finding children ICE already ‘apprehended,’ yet somehow lost track of ‘while they await immigration proceedings.’ Musing that it’s important to know where children are, to make sure they’re ‘cared for’ and not ‘exploited,’ does not turn civil immigration proceedings into criminal investigations.”
Moss’s attorneys are asking the judge to issue an immediate temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and permanent injunction, barring Polis from directing Moss to produce the personal information for federal immigration authorities.
