The state Senate approved a measure Tuesday that would allow Coloradans to sue federal agents if they believed their constitutional rights were violated during immigration enforcement.
The Democrat-backed measure, Senate Bill 5, passed the chamber 20-11 on a party-line vote. It still needs to pass the House before it goes to Gov. Jared Polis for consideration.
SB-5 is part of a trio of bills run by Democrats this year that immigrant-rights advocates hope will help insulate the state from what they see as federal overreach. If it becomes law, the bill will establish a legal right to sue agents in state courts for people whose constitutional rights are violated during immigration enforcement actions.
Supporters said the measure would give Colorado residents needed recourse against overaggressive enforcement tactics from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Sponsors cited the recent violence in Minneapolis, where federal agents fatally shot two protesters. They also cited aggressive tactics reported in Colorado.
“Windows are getting smashed in cars in Alamosa, and glass is raining down on children,” Sen. Mike Weissman, an Aurora Democrat who sponsored the bill, said during debate Monday. “… Five-foot-2, middle-aged women are being thrown to the ground and pinned down by federal officials in Durango. Agents with generic uniforms that say ‘sheriff’ or ‘police’ are walking around northwest Aurora, my district.”
The debate, however, often turned back to the events in Minnesota.
Masked federal agents in tactical gear have prowled the streets for suspected undocumented immigrants and frequently fought with protesters. National outcry followed the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good after bystander videos showed neither posed an obvious and immediate danger to agents.
“How bad are the actions of federal immigration enforcement going to have to get before we all — 100%, (voting) 35-0 — can get to the point to where we acknowledge and appreciate that the Constitution does, in fact, protect us all?” said Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat and bill sponsor.
Republicans, who are outnumbered nearly 2-to-1 in the chamber, voted together against the measure.
Sen. Larry Liston, a Colorado Springs Republican, argued that Pretti and Good bore some responsibility for their deaths because Pretti brought a gun to a protest and because Good drove in the direction of agents after being told to halt. Republicans brought a failed amendment that would have protected agents if they were provoked into violating a person’s rights.
Other Republicans warned that this bill could incentivize more conflict if protesters were looking to file lawsuits. If the bill became law, it would also likely be challenged in courts as state overreach, Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, a Brighton Republican, warned.
Senate Minority Leader Cleave Simpson, an Alamosa Republican, said some tactics from federal agents in his district haven’t aligned with his personal values. But he questioned if they rose to the level of constitutional violations.
“We are taking steps toward compounding circumstances rather than, from my perspective, truly trying to protect constitutional rights,” Simpson said.
Weissman, who is a lawyer by trade, said the intent of the bill was to get victims “in the courthouse door” — and from there, judges could weigh mitigating circumstances and immunity for law enforcement.
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