Criminal suspects and convicts are the business of local law enforcement. If an illegal immigrant rapes and murders in Castle Rock, it immediately becomes the business of local law enforcement, the local jail and the local county or district court system. It also becomes the business of the victims and anyone close to them.

The same goes for any community anywhere. So, it is good to see local governments finally standing up for themselves against state laws that prohibit law enforcers from cooperating with federal immigration officials of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

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Douglas County and El Paso County — Colorado’s sixth- and first-most populous jurisdictions — are suing the state government for tying their hands regarding illegal immigrant crime suspects and convicts. Other counties should join them in a massive effort to correct Colorado’s insane sanctuary policies that coddle criminals.

As explained in a Gazette news article, the suit will address two state laws: 1. A 2019 law that prohibits local governments from cooperating with the federal government in immigration enforcement and prohibits the sharing of judicial information with federal officials; and 2. A law enacted in 2023 that prohibits local government involvement in immigration detention.

It is self-evident how these laws promote crime at the expense of victims and the people paid to protect and defend them. If local law enforcement believe a convict or suspect resides in the United States illegally, they should have the option — some would say the obligation — to enlist the support of federal authorities.

The public hears about illegal immigrants committing deadly and violent crimes all over the country, even after arrests and knowledge of a suspect’s or perpetrator’s illegal residency.

If authorities in Georgia had cooperated with ICE, the illegal immigrant suspected of disfiguring and brutally killing Alabama college student Laken Riley might have been detained and deported before he reportedly killed. He was arrested before the murder, but locals obeyed sanctuary policies — like Colorado’s — and freed him to kill.

Imagine Colorado without the presence of Jose Guadalupe Menjivar-Alas, the 37-year-old who was in our country illegally when Broomfield police say he committed his fifth alcohol-related traffic crime.

That crime killed 47-year-old Melissa Powell and her 16-year-old son, Riordan, in January. If he had not remained here, in violation of federal law, the mother and son would be alive.

El Paso County Sheriff Joe Roybal recently told state legislators of an illegal immigrant charged with multiple counts of raping children.

“If I could have worked with ICE … I could have said, ‘Please put a hold on this person, this is a dangerous person, a flight risk,’” Roybal said. “He still would have been sitting in my jail until convicted … (not) victimizing more children out there.”

Although they mostly go unenforced, our country has immigration laws for good reasons. They are intended to prevent the United States from becoming the dumping grounds for foreign leaders and law enforcers trying to rid their countries and communities of criminals. They are supposed to prevent the worst of the worst from bringing their crimes to the American people.

Communities throughout Colorado should join the lawsuit. Additionally, we hope honorable attorneys will help victims of crimes — those committed by people who should not have been here — to sue the state for preventing efforts to remove them before they caused harm.

It wasn’t always like this in Colorado, and we no longer need to tolerate it. Then-Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, signed a law in 2006 that forbade local governments from policies against working with federal immigration officials.

Radicalized Democrats — the same people who drove up crime with “criminal justice reform” — repealed the law in 2013 and turned Colorado into a sanctuary state. It should be obvious how much harm this has caused.

Colorado’s sanctuary policies are an injustice to communities and the people they serve. They get people killed. All aggrieved parties have good reason to petition the court for law, order, justice and peace.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board