The head of Denver police union, Detective Nick Rogers, testified to Congress Thursday about law enforcement issues in a so-called sanctuary city of undocumented immigrants. He was one of a handful of Coloradans in the ring Thursday speaking about the contentious immigration issue, intensified by the Colorado’s purple, swing-state political status.

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor, requested Rogers to speak of his experiences before and after Mayor Michael Hancock declared last fall that the city would not help federal agents round up or detain undocumented immigrants.

He testified Thursday morning to the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on immigration and border security

Rogers has been a Denver cop for 32 years, a narcotics detective since 1992 and president of the Police Protective Association for a decade.

In the past, if he encountered an undocumented person in the drug trade he would notify two ICE agents in Denver with whom he had worked with in the past.

“These two ICE agents did a fantastic job, and were invaluable to us during these early years. They would respond any time of day or night to assist us,” Rogers told the subcommittee, on which Buck serves. “They would interview the suspects and ultimately put a detainer on those suspects if they were indeed here illegally. They often found that the person they were interviewing had been deported before sometimes they had been deported several times.

“In October of 2017 this all changed. The city and county of Denver placed severe restrictions onall Denver police officers, forbidding them to contact ICE as we had done so many times before.”

He added, “The ordinance has had a chilling effect on our daily operations. We can no longer call and share with ICE. They can no longer call and ask for assistance, or ask for intel on suspects involved in criminal activity.”

Rogers’ full testimony is available by clicking here

Colorado State Treasurer Walker Stapleton, a Republican candidate for governor, provided a statement about Rogers’ testimony.

“Sanctuary city policies are making Colorado cities less safe and endangering our citizens and other immigrants. When our law enforcement officers voice concerns over the sanctuary city policies in Colorado, it is incumbent upon elected leaders to support these men and women who serve on the frontlines. Unfortunately, as Detective Rogers noted in his testimony, the opioid crisis is a serious problem in Colorado and I commend his commitment to enacting policies that push back against this deadly epidemic. As Governor, I will do everything in my power to end sanctuary city policies in Colorado and will work with our local elected officials to protect our citizens and support our law enforcement officers.”

There was a lot of action related to immigration on Capitol Hill Thursday. Republican Sen. Cory Gardner has been heavily involved in those efforts. He supported a bipartisan proposals that sought to tie #25 billion for President Trump’s border wall with Mexico to the fate of 1.8 million young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

President Trump signed an order last year to do away with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals  program, created by President Obama’s Dream Act. The program has shielded the so-called Dreamers, including more than 17,000 people in Colorado, from deportation.

The Republican-led Senate on blocked President Trump’s immigration plan Thursday, as well as a bipartisan alternative. Gardner and Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Denver were ready to deal on $25 billion for a border wall to protect dreamers, but Trump and hard-line Republicans wanted to also curtail family-based legal migration and ended a visa lottery system used by immigrants from smaller countries.

“Our immigration system is broken and that’s why I voted for solutions today,” Gardner said in a statement after a series of afternoon votes. “President Trump has repeatedly stated he wants to address the Dreamer population and increase border security and the proposals I supported today would have done exactly that. I’m disappointed we were not able to find a solution this week but that does not mean our work is over. I’ll continue to work with Sen, Bennet and my other colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find a solution that can pass the Senate, the House, and ultimately be signed by the president.”

Bennet was more pointed.

“This is another pitiful example of common sense losing out to dysfunction and polarization,” he stated. “For months, we worked in good faith to reach a principled compromise that protects Dreamers and addresses border security. At every turn, President Trump undermined our efforts to solve the crisis that he created. Today’s resounding bipartisan rejection of the President’s proposal should lead him to reconsider his extreme position. In the meantime, we must continue to protect Dreamers.”