Dear Honorable Members of the Colorado Legislature and Governor Polis:
As a faith leaders with Together Colorado we watch with growing concern as anti-immigrant rhetoric erodes the moral fabric of our communities. Our various faith traditions call on us, as spiritual leaders throughout the state, to make sure that the immigrants in our community feel welcome and as protected as possible, especially in these turbulent times.
HB19-1124, Protect Colorado Residents From Federal Government Overreach, is a concrete way that we can do this for the immigrant community in Colorado. This bill will prevent local, regional, and state government entities from using any resources, directly or indirectly, to enforce federal civil immigration laws. Any requirement that public safety agencies play a role in enforcing federal civil immigration laws undermines public trust.
HB19-1124 protects the Constitutional rights of all people, living in Colorado, from unlawful detainment and seizure. It also frees Colorado from mandates or financial obligations to perform the duties of the federal government or to be threatened or coerced to do so by withholding federal funding.
We urge you to support HB19-1124 as it moves through the legislature in these last days of the 2019 legislative session and makes it to the Governor’s desk.
We remain rooted in the spiritual wellsprings of our various faiths, which call us to move beyond ourselves into an awareness that we are all – regardless of our country of origin, our faith, our race or ethnicity – one interconnected and interdependent family.
We feel a responsibility to call our state back to a shared vision of community and solidarity, even as we mourn the impact of the discord, division and violence we see around us. It is not too late to reverse the troubling course we find ourselves on. With the passage and signing of HB19-1124, you can help set Colorado on that path.
Signed by 220 Colorado Faith Leaders:
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