During his State of the State address this month, Gov. Jared Polis said he would welcome federal help “to detain and deport dangerous criminals.”

Two Republican lawmakers are hoping the governor might take an interest in a bill that would allow employees in the state’s criminal justice system to help with that effort.

Sponsored by Rep. Jarvis Caldwell of Monument and Sen. Rod Pelton of Cheyenne Wells, House Bill 1140 would allow parole and probation officers, employees who already deal with people convicted of crimes, to work with federal immigration authorities.

Under HB 1140, those employees could provide personal information about an individual to federal immigration authorities if the individual is on probation for certain violent felony offenses.

The bill borrows on the ballot measure approved by voters last November, Proposition 128, which requires those convicted of the most serious crimes to serve more of their sentences for those offenses.

Proposition 128’s language included second-degree murder, first-degree assault, first-degree kidnapping, first or second-degree sexual assault, first-degree arson, first-degree burglary or aggravated robbery. Caldwell’s bill also adds first-degree murder.

Caldwell told Colorado Politics that a 2019 state law — whose provisions effectively make Colorado a “sanctuary state” — prevents probation officers from turning over any information to federal authorities. “You have a probation or parole officer because you’ve been convicted of a crime,” he explained. 

This is for the “worst of the worst” violent criminals, Caldwell said. “If we can apply (Proposition 128) to citizens, why not to violent migrants?”

He had hoped to garner bipartisan support, as well as conversations with the governor’s office. That hasn’t happened, he said. 

No legal definition of a “sanctuary” city or state exists, but broadly speaking, it refers to a community that expressly refuses to cooperate with federal authorities on enforcing immigration laws. Colorado’s Republican members of Congress earlier asked Polis to push for the repeal of House Bill 19-1124, Senate Bill 21-131 and House Bill 23-1100. The three laws respectively prohibit Colorado law enforcement from complying with federal immigration detainers, prevent state agencies and law enforcement from sharing certain personal information with immigration authorities unless compelled by the courts, bar state or local entities from contracting or paying for immigration detention facilities, and prohibit local jails from holding inmates solely at the request of ICE.

The bill is drawing worries from the American Civil Liberties Union, largely because some of the charges identified in the bill aren’t parole eligible or for privacy reasons.

Anaya Robinson, senior policy strategist for the ACLU, told Colorado Politics her group doesn’t fully understand the bill’s intent. 

Most people convicted of first-degree murder or first-degree kidnapping are ineligible for parole, Robinson said. In addition, to be eligible for felony probation, a person cannot have two or more previous felony convictions, yet “the vast majority” of those convicted of the crimes listed in HB 1140 have previous felony convictions.

The issue of privacy is also as concern, said Robinson.

When personal information is disclosed about someone on parole or probation, that information, such as an address, doesn’t just pertain to the individual — it would also include family members, putting their rights at risk, Robinson said.  

Unless the law enforcement agency has a warrant signed by a judge, those people are still entitled to due process, Robinson said. This would undermine privacy rights, he added. 

The bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee and is up for its first committee hearing on Feb. 11.