Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper praised Denver Mayor Michael Hancock for skipping a White House event last week, following threats from the Department of Justice to drop federal funding for so-called “sanctuaries.”
“I commend Mayor Hancock,” the governor said Tuesday. “And there are a number of mayors that really stood up.”
Hancock told 9NEWS that he nearly decided to skip the event before the DOJ sent out their letters demanding proof that “sanctuaries” cooperate with immigration officials. The mayor said the DOJ’s letter to Denver made it official.
FULL INTERVIEW: Hancock says Denver will cooperate with Dept. of Justice
Hickenlooper echoed what Hancock said in a sit-down interview with Next on Monday:if the feds want help from Denver, beyond what city policy states, they should get a warrant.
“It seems to me everybody, Republicans and Democrats, should not want the federal government instructing municipalities to hold someone without charges, without due process, without a court order,” he said. “And you know, I've been asked a couple times, ‘What if you got someone that's a murderer?’ Well, if you think he's a murderer, it shouldn't be that hard to get a court order.”
The governor said he has had conversations with Hancock about policy, and he feels that Denver’s priority is the safety of citizens.
“Part of that safety is, when there's a crime committed, you want to make sure that all witnesses who know anything, either observe something or heard something about that crime, feel safe to come forward and talk about it,” Hickenlooper said. “If people are getting locked up and detained, without judicial process, without, with what I would call due clause, if you're someone, if you're without papers, you're not going to go near a case like that. I think that makes us less safe.”
Hancock told Next that they will cooperate with the DOJ's requests.
