In yet another example of her commitment and resolve, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has sued the state of Colorado over their sanctuary immigration laws, arguing that the state’s policies are dangerous and an insubordination of President Trump’s plan to deport illegal immigrants.
For context, the Department of Justice, led by Bondi, filed the lawsuit against Colorado and the city of Denver, along with its local authorities, on Friday, May 3, 2025, making the case that the state was subverting President Trump’s immigration agenda and calling attention to the Colorado city of Aurora as a hotbet for Tren de Aragua gang activity.
According to press accounts, the lawsuit argued that Colorado has enacted so-called “sanctuary policies,” which protect illegal immigrants from deportation, specifically in the city of Denver. In the lawsuit, the DOJ backed up its case by saying, “The United States has well-established, preeminent, and preemptive authority to regulate immigration matters.”
In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for the Governor of Colorado’s office issued a statement declaring that Colorado is not a “sanctuary state,” adding, “The State of Colorado works with local, state and federal law enforcement regularly and we value our partnerships with local, county and federal law enforcement agencies to make Colorado safer.”
However, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston told CBS News in January that his city’s officials do not “ask someone’s immigration status.” Mayor Johnston added, “We don’t know your status, so we don’t share your status with other federal agencies.” He then clarified, “However, if the federal government, like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, identifies someone in our jails and wants to deport them or take action when they’re released, we notify them when the person is being released, and they can pick them up at that point.”
Continuing, Johnston staunchly defended his city’s illegal immigrants, saying, “They’re now working, paying taxes and supporting their families. We don’t want to see those folks pulled off the job or their kids taken out of school.” He added, “We’re not going to be bullied or blackmailed into changing our approach.”
The lawsuit followed an April 28, 2025, executive order that ordered the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to “publish a list of States and local jurisdictions obstructing federal immigration law enforcement and notify each sanctuary jurisdiction of its non-compliance, providing an opportunity to correct it.”
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In response to the executive order, several notoriously woke organizations spoke out in defense of the state of Colorado, including the ACLU. Naureen Shah, speaking on behalf of the ACLU, issued a statement condemning President Trump for “targeting sanctuary cities. Shah criticized President Trump and his Cabinet for working to penalize sanctuary cities, saying, “These executive orders are just the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s shakedown of cities, states, and elected officials that refuse to offer up local resources for the administration’s mass deportation and detention agenda.”
Watch local coverage of the lawsuit:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video