Towards Justice Demands End to Sheriff Lou Vallario and the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office’s Apparently Unlawful Collaboration with Federal Immigration Authorities
Glenwood Springs, CO — This week, Towards Justice served a cease-and-desist letter on Sheriff Lou Vallario and the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO), demanding an immediate end to unlawful collaboration with federal immigration authorities.
Colorado law prohibits various forms of collaboration between local law enforcement and civil immigration enforcement efforts, including by prohibiting law enforcement from arresting or detaining people on the basis of a civil immigration detainer without a judicial warrant or court order. Another statute prohibits state and local officials from disclosing or making accessible personal identifying information (“PII”) that is not publicly available for the purpose of investigating for, participating in, cooperating with, or assisting in federal immigration enforcement.
Documents obtained through the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) and summarized in the letter reveal that Sheriff Vallario used his official email to openly express his refusal to comply with Colorado law limiting cooperation with ICE and federal immigration authorities. The records also show the Sheriff referring to his state representative Elizabeth Velasco, who sponsored some of these laws, as a “POS.” CORA records, body-worn camera footage, and witness reports cited in the letter reveal that the GCSO used local resources to assist the transfer of a long-time Garfield County resident with no active criminal warrants or charges to federal authorities.
One local mother, who was recently deported by ICE with the assistance of the GCSO, said “I was betrayed by the Garfield County Sheriff. They let me think that I was going to be released after paying bond. Instead, when I emerged from the restroom ready to leave, I saw the sheriff’s deputy standing next to an ICE agent. The ICE agent ushered me out the back door of the sheriff’s office while my son and friend waited out front. These officials knew that, as a domestic violence survivor, I had a pending U Visa application and that I was a single mother with a medically vulnerable toddler. To the Garfield County Sheriff, I didn’t matter. The law didn’t matter. My rights didn’t matter…”
A family member of another man recently turned over to ICE from GCSO custody said “To the Garfield County Sheriff, [our father] may be nothing more than a case number. To us, he is the backbone of our family, the person around whom our lives, our work, and our sense of safety were built. GCSO’s actions tore away a man deeply woven into the social and human fabric of this community. We once believed that law enforcement existed to protect the community. That belief has been shattered. The actions of the Garfield County Sheriff have transformed what should be a source of safety into a source of terror.”
State Representative Elizabeth Velasco commented, “Public safety depends on trust. We are living in a time of heightened political violence and intimidation. As a Latina woman, an elected official, and as an immigrant I do not take lightly the ways rhetoric and actions can escalate fear. If the goal of this intimidation is to make people feel small, to silence us, and make us question our safety and withdraw from public life, it will not succeed. Our community’s resilience is stronger than fear. And our pursuit of justice and dignity for all of our neighbors cannot be intimidated out of existence.”
“Sheriff Lou Vallerio has shown a shocking disrespect for state law. For someone who’s taken an oath to uphold those laws, his statements and conduct are deeply troubling. Sheriff Valerio and other law enforcement across the state seeking to collaborate with ICE must know that they are not above the law. They serve the people of Colorado and must obey the laws our elected representatives—including Representative Elizabeth Valesco—have helped to enact,” said David Seligman, Executive Director of Towards Justice.
Towards Justice provides legal support, including free and confidential intakes to community members concerned about the actions of the local law enforcement, including the Garfield County Sheriff. Individuals who have information on this conduct are urged to call Towards Justice at (720) 807-8237.
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