The Aurora City Council discussed whether it needed to define that it is not a sanctuary city during Monday night’s meeting.
Chief Nick Metz said Aurora Police will not help ICE agents with immigration roundups. He said the policy is clear: Officers are prohibited from proactively investigating, detaining or enforcing immigration just for determining a person’s status.
With that being said, Metz says immigrants should know if they commit a crime, they will go to jail.
Mayor Steve Hogan, meanwhile, says the city will respect the legal rights of its immigrant community.
“We don’t get involved in sweeps,” Hogan said. “We don’t randomly stop people and check their papers. We value this relationship, and it’s for public safety. It’s for everybody’s safety.”
During the meeting, the council discussed a potential resolution using terms other than “sanctuary city” to convey that immigrants are welcome.
This comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has taken aim against sanctuary cities.
RELATED: Denver, Boulder, Aurora try to define immigration policies with blurry 'sanctuary city' meaning
Trump said during the campaign that he would “defend” sanctuary cities by taking away their federal funding – something legal precedent says is difficult to do.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Monday that the Justice Department will require cities to comply with immigration laws in order to receive Office of Justice program grants.
This is a similar policy to one the Obama administration had.
Aurora has one of the largest immigrant populations in Colorado. In November, the city’s police department posted on Facebook that it currently abides by a “non-enforcement policy” on immigration.
Hogan has told 9NEWS that Aurora has never been a sanctuary city – something disputed by Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado).
"It's absolutely clear as a bell and they've been doing it for a long time. The problem is it's never been enforced,” he told 9NEWS back in January.
