Denver has directed city police to protect peaceful protesters and to detain federal immigration agents who use excessive or deadly force as a result of a new executive order signed by Mayor Mike Johnston.
"If we see any ICE officer using excessive force against a Denver resident, we will step in to detain that officer and remove them from the situation," Johnston said at a press conference. "We hold our own officers to that standard, and we will hold any ICE agent to the same."
Executive Order 152 instructs the Denver Police Department to protect peaceful demonstrators, provide emergency medical assistance and "de-escalate" conflicts involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It directs local authorities to investigate and prosecute any federal agent who "assaults, shoots or kills" someone in Denver.
It also bars federal immigration officials from using city-owned property — including parks and parking lots — as a "staging area, processing location, or operations base" without a judicial warrant.
Police Chief Ron Thomas told Politico that officers will not interfere with lawful federal actions. "Federal agents are expected to follow local laws and public safety regulations," he said. "All law enforcement officers have a statutory obligation to intervene if they witness illegal or excessive force being used by any law enforcement officer, to include federal agents."
The order follows the killing of two people by federal agents in Minneapolis last month and comes amid broader tensions between the administration and cities with policies limiting cooperation with immigration enforcement. The White House criticized Denver's move through spokeswoman Abigail Jackson:
"ICE officers act heroically to enforce the law and protect American communities and local officials should work with them, not against them. Anyone doing otherwise is simply doing the bidding of criminal illegal aliens"
A similar restriction in New Jersey is now being challenged by the Trump administration in federal court. The Justice Department is suing the state over an executive order that bars ICE from non-public areas of state property without a judicial warrant. The complaint argues the order violates the Constitution's Supremacy Clause by obstructing federal immigration enforcement.
Denver's executive order states that nothing in it should be construed to interfere with valid court orders or federal law, but it emphasizes that federal agents operating in the city are subject to local laws and public safety standards.
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