Illegal Immigration Border Patrol Encounters
‘Border Patrol encounters another commercial vehicle involved in human smuggling attempt.” Photo courtesy of US Customs & Border Protection.

Publisher’s Notes: The Maverick Observer is aware of the change in AP Style when using the term “illegal immigrants”. We have chosen to use the term until AP Style provides a more succinct and accurate verbiage when discussing illegal immigration.

When it comes to illegal immigration, you’ve probably heard the term “Sanctuary City” or “Sanctuary State,” bandied about by both news pundits and politicians. You may have also heard that Colorado is one of 11 states classified as a Sanctuary State. But what does this mean, and what are the pros and cons of being designated a Sanctuary State?

Sanctuary Status for Illegal Immigration

There’s no legal definition for Sanctuary State. However, if a state is called a Sanctuary State, it means that the state has adopted policies, laws, ordinances, regulations, or resolutions that protect illegal immigrants from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These policies can range from limiting cooperation with federal authorities to outright protecting illegal immigrants.

While Colorado is one of 11 Sanctuary States, it’s considered one of the top 5 “safe” states due to the amount of protection it provides. Indeed, thanks to new laws like House Bill 19-1124, “Protect Colorado Residents from Federal Government Overreach,” some of Colorado’s immigration protections include:

  • State and local law enforcement can’t honor immigration detainers by ICE unless signed by a federal magistrate (something federal law doesn’t provide for, so, essentially, all detainers are forbidden from being honored).
  • Probation officers can’t provide personal information about an illegal immigrant to immigration authorities.
  • Before any federal interview, illegal immigrants must be advised of their Miranda Rights.

Simply put, Colorado makes it nearly impossible for state and local law enforcement to help federal authorities when it comes to detaining criminal aliens. Colorado also “deliberately obstructs our country’s lawful immigration system, protects serious criminal alien offenders, and undermines public safety,” according to ICE’s statement to the Denver Post. But is this noncompliance a problem, and if yes, why?

Illegal Immigration Ramping Up Repatriation Flights
‘Ramping Up Repatriation Flights.’ Photo courtesy of Mani Albrecht, US Customs & Border Protection.

The Pros and Cons of Sanctuary Status

Thanks to the regulations it’s adopted, Colorado is considered a Sanctuary State. And that designation comes with a few pros and cons.

According to Britannica ProCon.org, a nonpartisan research site, states considered “safe” typically have better relationships between undocumented immigrants and law enforcement. According to a study conducted by Tom K. Wong, a political scientist at the University of California-San Diego, “counties that did not comply with ICE requests experienced 35.5 fewer crimes per 10,000 people than those that did.”

When a person isn’t afraid of being deported due to their immigration status, they’re more likely to report crimes and act as witnesses when a crime occurs. This can lead to an overall reduction in crime.

Conversely, illegal immigrants with previous criminal convictions are released into the community when a state fails to follow detainer requests. This can lead to a dangerous environment for U.S. citizens.

For example, in 2017, Tim Cruz was shot and killed near an RDT station on the Denver-Lakewood border, and Ever Valles pled guilty to this incident. Significantly, prior to the shooting, Valles was arrested on multiple charges but posted bail and was released despite ICE flagging him as an “immigration enforcement priority.”

Still, another benefit of being a Sanctuary State is that, in general, undocumented immigrants are a net benefit to the economy. 96.7 percent of undocumented Mexican immigrants are employed. In 2019 alone, undocumented Mexican immigrants earned almost $92 billion and contributed nearly $9.8 billion in federal, state and local taxes, according to New American Economy Research Fund

However, this high employment for illegal immigrants hurts native-born Americans by driving down wages and suppressing job opportunities. George Borjas, an economist at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, states:

[A]nyone who tells you that immigration doesn’t have any negative effects doesn’t understand how it really works. When the supply of workers goes up, the price that firms have to pay to hire workers goes down. Wage trends over the past half-century suggest that a 10 percent increase in the number of workers with a particular set of skills probably lowers the wage of that group by at least 3 percent. Even after the economy has fully adjusted, those skill groups that received the most immigrants will still offer lower pay relative to those that received fewer immigrants. Both low- and high-skilled natives are affected by the influx of immigrants. But because a disproportionate percentage of immigrants have few skills, it is low-skilled American workers, including many blacks and Hispanics, who have suffered most from this wage dip. The monetary loss is sizable.

Illegal Immigration Interior Repatriation Initiative Flight 12192019
‘Interior Repatriation Initiative Flight Departing December 19, 2019.’ Photo courtesy of Jerry Glaser, US Customs & Border Protection.

Sanctuary Status and You

When evaluating policies that address illegal immigration, it’s essential to understand both sides of the argument. That way, you can make an informed decision on which way you lean.

It’s important to recognize how laws have changed over time. Since 2006, Colorado has swung from having the toughest immigration policies in the nation to now being one of the top 5 safest states for illegal immigrants. Notably, HB 19-1124 is only one law out of many that have made Colorado a Sanctuary State.

Over the coming weeks, The Maverick Observer will take a closer look at not only what it means to be a Sanctuary State but also how Colorado plans to provide for immigrants’ legal defense and how it’s changing the term “illegal alien” to “worker without authorization.” Stay tuned to learn the pros and cons of these new laws and how they impact you.


The Maverick Observer is an online free-thinking publication interested in the happenings in our region. We launched in February 2020 to hold our politicians and businesses accountable. We hope to educate, inform, entertain, and infuse you with a sense of community.


Previous articleThe Struggles of Being Single in the Springs
Next articleFine Arts Center Murals – Teaching Point?
Katie Spence
Before starting her career as a journalist, Katie served in the Air Force as an active-duty Airborne Operations Technician on JSTARS. After leaving active duty, Katie joined the Colorado Air National Guard and returned to college. Katie has a degree in analytic philosophy and a minor in cognitive development from the University of Colorado. She uses this to help further her understanding of current issues — from politics to economics to environmental issues. Katie wrote for The Maverick Observer before moving to the Epoch Times. Katie’s writing has appeared in The Motley Fool, First Quarter Finance, The Cheat Sheet, Investing.com, and numerous other sites.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks for the informative article. You may want to use the legally correct term, “illegal aliens” when referring to those who have snuck into our country and evaded capture at our border.

    See
    cairco.org/reference/terminology-history-and-usage-alien-and-illegal-alien

    Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform

    • Thank you for the comments. There is one more article in this series discussing HB 21-1075 and we will move forward with new terminology.

  2. You use the taxes collected but combine federal and state. That sounds nice but without the costs associated with the same people it is meaningless. The ICE detainers are only for a subset of illegal aliens anyways, the criminal element for the most part. To see if sanctuary state support is a good idea the taxes and cost associated with the illegals with ICE retainers against them should be used. What does it cost us to keep incarcerating people who could and should be deported? How much tax vs cost do they incur?

    Legal immigration is a different discussion with its own pros and cons but that is not what sanctuary status is about.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here