Three leading Colorado Democratic officials on Monday called on the state party to censure U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper over the Democrat’s support on a non-binding vote last week to block undocumented immigrants from receiving pandemic stimulus payments.

Hickenlooper has been under fire for days from furious immigrant-rights advocates and others he can typically count as allies since the lawmaker joined seven other Democratic senators last Thursday night supporting  a Republican amendment to a coronavirus relief bill. 

In a letter to state Democratic Party chair Morgan Carroll, the state’s three elected Democratic National Committee members – Joe Salazar, Jeri Shepherd and Radhika Nath – demanded what appears to be an unprecedented “public censure” of Hickenlooper “for his support of a hateful, xenophobic, and racist amendment offered by Republican Senators.”

The DNC members added: “The Colorado Democratic Party should note that we wholly support Senator Hickenlooper’s success. But, we cannot support any success that sacrifices our immigrant communities.”

The amendment, which passed 58-42, was one of hundreds of non-binding measures heard in a lengthy “vote-a-rama” filled with proposed amendments sometimes dismissed as symbolic.

Non-binding, so-called “message votes” like the budget resolution amendments, a spokesperson for Hickenlooper told Colorado Politics after the vote, “lead to exactly the kind of circus that makes Washington so famously dysfunctional. Instead of playing political games, John is laser-focused on getting us through the pandemic, rebuilding the economy, and finding a long-term solution to fix our broken immigration system.”

A coalition of hundreds of mostly left-leaning organizations, politicians, businesses and community leaders denounced Hickenlooper’s vote in a letter sent Monday asking the senator to “commit to supporting Colorado’s impacted communities and to deliver the necessary aid and protection he promised to all Coloradans.”

The message Hickenlooper sent with the vote, the letter said, is “loud and clear: I only care about you when I’m campaigning.”

The letter acknowledged the non-binding vote wouldn’t have an effect – people who aren’t in the country legally are already banned from receiving stimulus checks – but argued that the symbolism matters.

“In the end, while this anti-immigrant amendment is dead, Sen. Hickenlooper’s symbolic vote remains on record – the message it sends is unacceptable,” the letter said.

“?Sen. Hickenlooper campaigned on a promise to represent all Coloradans and help keep everyone safe, but his actions Thursday broke that promise. ?The senator’s ‘aye’ vote to deny critical relief to people who need it most was an affront to every essential worker, every immigrant, and every Coloradan. It is not enough to praise people as essential. We must treat each other as such through our actions.”

State Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, one of the letter’s signers, said in a statement that Hickenlooper needs to deliver on his campaign promises. 

“Undocumented Coloradans are working on the front lines of our economy in the midst of a deadly pandemic,” she said. “Sen. Hickenlooper doesn’t get to pick and choose when he cares about immigrants. He’s either committed to protecting immigrants and all Coloradans, all of the time or he’s not. It’s as simple as that.”

A spokesman for the Colorado Democratic Party didn’t respond to a request for comment about the prospect of a public censure of the state’s junior senator. A Democrat with a long memory, however, told Colorado Politics that the state party has never censured an elected Democrat.

Colorado’s senior senator, Democrat Michael Bennet, voted against the amendment supported by Hickenlooper, drawing criticism from the state Republican Party.

“Today a bipartisan number of Senators voted to ensure that tax-payer funded stimulus checks aren’t sent to illegal immigrants,” Colorado GOP spokesman Joe Jackson said in a statement.

“Sadly, Senator Bennet chose to side with his liberal allies in giving Americans hard earned taxpayer dollars to illegal immigrants – those funds should instead go to help Colorado schools, teachers, businesses, and families.”

Jackson noted approvingly in a release that Hickenlooper voted in favor of the amendment.

A Hickenlooper spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the censure demand.