A bill that would limit federal agents’ reach into Colorado jails for undocumented residents received preliminary approval in the Colorado House Monday night.

Rep. Adrienne Benavidez, D-Commerce City, a sponsor of the legislation, said the goal of the bill is to clarify existing state law and court rulings to reduce the “patchwork” of interpretations by local officials.

House Bill 1124 aims to make it clear that federal agents can’t use local jails to hold people suspected of being undocumented residents longer than their local sentence requires.

After passing Monday night’s voice vote, the Democrat-sponsored legislation that was introduced in January still has to beat the clock before the legislature’s May 3 adjournment.

Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, urged changes in the bill because he thought it originally went too far.

Republicans who tried in vain to defeat it Monday night agreed.

“It’s an attempt to undermine the immigration enforcement we have,” said Rep. Dave Williams, R-Colorado Springs. 

He read aloud part of the bill that said Colorado would escape “certain federal mandates.”

“I guarantee you a lot of these agencies are engaging in some sort of overreach or are empowered to mandate certain things that the state of Colorado may not want to do,” Williams said of other federal agencies that operate in the state. “But for some reason we’re only focusing on Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

He tried to amend the bill to make it contingent on completion of a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Democrats didn’t debate before voting down the amendment.

Added Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs: “I think what this bill is attempting to do is really divide us and say, ‘We’re going to do what we want. If we want the federal government to help us, we’ll take your money and your resources, but if we disagree with you … then heck no, we’re going to override the federal government.'”

Sponsors narrowed the original bill quite a bit to satisfy the Democratic governor, not necessarily Republicans.

“I think the general thing that frustrates us at the state level is that immigration needs to be fixed federally,” Polis told reporters in his office Monday.

“It’s a federal problem, and there’s long been bipartisan support for a comprehensive immigration reform, meaning better border security, allowing people who have been here a long time to get right with the law and someday set themselves on the path to citizenship, even if that’s 10 or 15 years away.”

He said states don’t have a lot of good options yet in dealing with federal law regarding citizenship.

“In the meantime, of course, we want to continue to cooperate with federal law enforcement agencies to keep Coloradans safe,” Polis said.

Polis said ICE is a “legitimate law enforcement agency with a critical role in preventing human trafficking and smuggling, and we look forward to maintaining a strong relationship with ICE and other federal law enforcement agencies.”

In its original wording, House Bill 1124 would have barred any state agency or employee “from using public funds or resources to assist in the enforcement of federal civil immigration laws,” including executing warrants.

Monday night the House removed a prohibition to keep ICE agents from talking to inmates in secure areas of any city or county jail or other law enforcement facility without a warrant as part of their investigations.

The bill originally prevented jail employees from talking to ICE, but it was amended to allow them to notify federal immigration authorities when undocumented inmates would be released. 

It still requires jails to inform inmates they don’t have to talk to ICE agents, because anything they say could be used against them in an immigration case unrelated to their detainment.