Mayoral prospect claims Denver really should resume cooperating with ICE

DENVER —

A single candidate for Denver mayor states the town need to restart collaboration with immigration officials if doable. 

Kwame Spearman, CEO of Tattered Address bookstores and just one of the 17 candidates for mayor, built the comment Thursday on conservative chat radio station KNUS. 

Spearman also recommended if agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can’t easily arrest unauthorized immigrants doing work in Denver, that those people immigrants commuting to and from homes in the suburbs presented “opportunities for us to utilize the letter of the legislation.” 

Spearman’s stance on immigration, like significantly of his marketing campaign, echoes a strict law-and-buy concept placing him at odds with many Denver Democrats. Only one of the 17 candidates in Denver’s mayoral race, which is nonpartisan, is a registered Republican. 

In 2017, Denver Town Council unanimously handed the Denver Community Safety Enforcement Priorities Act, restricting data sharing with immigration brokers, which includes by regulation enforcement. Mayor Michael Hancock backed the move and individually established a legal protection fund for immigrants. 

Denver’s welcoming stance toward immigrants, no matter of lawful status, dates to a mostly symbolic buy by former Mayor Wellington Webb in 1998. 

In latest many years, Hancock has reported he is cozy with the label “sanctuary city” to describe Denver’s insurance policies, and the metropolis hung an tremendous banner on City Hall proclaiming the city’s adore of immigrants. 

An inflow of asylum seekers from Venezuela in December 2022 and January 2023 tested the city’s dedication to that pledge. The Town of Denver converted recreation facilities to momentary crisis shelters and mounted a town-vast reaction to welcome, shelter, feed, clothe, and prepare migrants for extensive-expression self-sufficiency. 

Spearman acknowledged a deficiency of familiarity with the issue of the city’s immigration guidelines. 

“I’m not properly-versed enough in the Xs and Os of the principles of sanctuary city,” he mentioned. 

The phrase “sanctuary city” is not a lawful expression, but loosely refers to jurisdictions that formalize protections for people in the nation devoid of documentation. 

Spearman mentioned that if a restriction on communication between nearby law enforcement and immigration agents “is not a pillar underneath being a sanctuary town, then the communication should happen.” 

Immigrants doing the job in Denver although living in bordering jurisdictions could be qualified for detention around their houses, Spearman stated. 

“Around the metro location, there are possibilities for that cooperation between the suburban cities and the counties with the federal govt,” he reported.

“What we see is commonly that [Denver] is not the metropolis where by people who are right here illegally are always dwelling,” Spearman stated, including that immigrants residing outside the house Denver deliver, “opportunities for us to apply the letter of the law.” 

The comments drew sharp rebukes from some prominent Democrats. 

“The far more Kwame speaks, the additional I see how deeply unqualified, uneducated about issues and just plain cruel he is,” former State Rep. Susan Lontine wrote on social media. 

Condition Sen. Julie Gonzales referred to as Spearman’s sights “out of phase with Denver values” and “disqualifying.” 

Shad Murib, a longtime Democratic staffer currently managing for chair of the Colorado Democratic Celebration, echoed Gonzales’ opinions. 

“This is not just an ineffective plan for a leader to press on local regulation enforcement, it’s also immoral, destructive to immigrants, and disqualifying,” Murib wrote on social media Thursday. 

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