After over four hours of debate spanning two days, lawmakers in the Colorado state House on Saturday passed legislation to limit federal immigration officers’ access into specific Colorado places, such as schools, and penalize, under specific situations, entities that provide the personal identifying information of immigrants.

The legislation would also permit immigrants to ask the courts to vacate a conviction of traffic misdemeanor, petty offense or Class 3 misdemeanor if they, for example, alleged they were not adequately advised by their lawyer of the adverse immigration consequences of a guilty plea.

The state Senate already approved the measure in April. 

The debate in the state House began on Friday afternoon, just hours after the Department of Justice announced it had filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado and several local leaders over “sanctuary policies.”

A “sanctuary” jurisdiction generally refers to a city or state that discourages local law enforcement from reporting an individual’s immigration status to federal authorities. This tension was on full display during a Congressional hearing in March, when Denver Mayor Mike Johnston was called to testify about the city’s response to the influx of immigrants.

During the debate, sponsors said Senate Bill 276 will help ensures that the civil rights of all residents, regardless of immigration status, are protected. 

Critics said the measure “supersizes” Colorado’s “sanctuary” policies, which many had blamed for attracting the immigrants who ended up in metro Denver after illegally crossing America’s border.  

In response to the federal lawsuit and President Donald Trump’s order threatening to withhold funding from “sanctuary cities,” Republican Rep. Jarvis Caldwell of Colorado Springs introduced an amendment on Friday that would have repealed the bill if the federal government cuts funding to the state as a result. 

Caldwell said he believes SB 276 would trigger a “serious loss” of federal funding and could represent the “final nail in the coffin” for Space Command, which some Alabama officials insisted is moving to their state.

“We’re gonna lose money on this because it is the federal government’s role to enforce federal immigration law and what we are trying to do is we are trying to roadblock that for them,” he said.  

“We are encouraging illegal activity,” added Rep. Chris Richardson, R-Elizabeth. “We are doubling down on our sanctuary status, and it’s absolutely wrong. We know it’s wrong but we’re doing it anyway, and it frankly is not appreciated by the folks in my district.”

The amendment failed to pass. 

On Saturday Rep. Yara Zokaie, D-Fort Collins, spoke about her parents’ experience immigrating to the United States from Iran. Senate Bill 276, she said, is meant to help people like her family who are afraid to leave their homes even if they are in the country legally because, she claimed, some of those individuals have been deported, too.

“Lawful residents are being falsely equated with violent criminals, even though we know that members of this community are substantially more likely to be victims of crime,” she said. 

Zokaie cited a video sent to her by a lawyer in Larimer County asking Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents why they detained her client as he dropped his child off at school. Zokaie said the agents refused to answer and ended up dragging the man out of his vehicle and placing him in custody — without telling his lawyer where they were taking him.  

Rep. Max Brooks, R-Castle Rock, agreed that it shouldn’t be so difficult for people to immigrate to the U.S. legally. The problem, he said, is the Biden administration “convoluted this conversation beyond recognition” and allowed gang members and violent criminals to cross the border “unvetted.”

“Perhaps some were coming here with their children to find a better life,” he said. “However, we do know that there were plenty of those that were coming across unvetted, unchecked, that were human traffickers, drug cartel, sex traffickers, gun dealers, violent gang members, and those that had been previously imprisoned,” he said. 

If signed into law, SB 276 would prevent jails from delaying the release of an individual on a personal recognizance bond to help facilitate immigration enforcement.

It would also prohibit law enforcement from allowing federal immigration agents to enter areas of detention centers that aren’t publicly accessible, unless they’re investigating a federal crime. It also bars forces from another state’s National Guard from entering Colorado without the governor’s permission.

Additionally, the measure prevents federal immigration agents from entering schools, health care and childcare facilities, churches, libraries, and jails without warrants. Public subdivisions, such as schools, and local judicial and legislative bodies would also be prohibited from disclosing personally identifying information about a person’s immigration status.

The bill passed on a 42-21 party-line vote.