Denver mayor signs order designed to restrict activities of federal immigration agents on city property

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Thursday signed an executive order designed to restrict the activities of federal immigration agents.

The order bans those agents from using city property and bars city agencies from sharing databases or technology with the Department of Homeland Security or its immigration partners without a subpoena, judicial warrant or court order.

Sensitive locations such as schools, churches, stadiums and hospitals will remain off limits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

"Our goal was this was a ability to provide clarity to Denver residents, to know how they can and should engage," Johnston said in a news conference in the morning outside the City and County Building. "Our goal is not to provoke anyone but to protect the residents that are here and we think that does that in a way that is both clear and responsible."

Denver City Council President Amanda P. Sandoval said the order is designed "to protect the residents of Denver and create clarity for something that is already going on in Denver."

"I just think that ... the table needs to be set because I've already experienced this in my council district. I know my colleagues have," she said in the news conference.

Johnston said that through "forthcoming council actions and council leadership," the city will "lay out Denver's plans for how we will keep every resident safe, regardless of their status."

The order also emphasizes that first responders will provide aid to anyone injured, regardless of the offender, and that ICE officers using excessive force or committing crimes will be held accountable.

CBS Colorado received this statement from the Department of Homeland Security:

"This is legally illiterate. No local official has the authority to bar ICE from carrying out federal law on public property—just as they cannot bar the media from reporting on city streets. Enforcing federal immigration laws is a clear federal responsibility under Article I, Article II and the Supremacy Clause.

"While Mayor Johnston continues to release pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto their streets, our brave law enforcement will continue to risk their lives to arrest these heinous criminals and make Denver safe again."

Some of the public safety threats arrested by ICE in Denver include:

Amilcar Esquivel-Hernandez, a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala, convicted of homicide, homicide-negligent manslaughter with weapon, and assault.

Efrain Renteria, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted of homicide.

Ricardo Marquez Garcia, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted of kidnapping, vehicle theft, trespassing, and a traffic offense.

Cesar Reyes-Marquez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted of homicide.

Ryan Jones, a criminal illegal alien from the UK, convicted of sex assault.

The mayor's office released the following graphic with the key points from the executive order: