Colorado lawmakers introduce hundreds of bills each year. Bills in brief cuts through the noise by explaining which proposals matter, what’s at stake, and how decisions at the Capitol could affect everyday life across the state.

Colorado legislators are pushing legislation to deny law enforcement certification to former or current immigration or Border Patrol agents, thereby precluding them from ever getting a police job in the state.

The proposal would require the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (P.O.S.T. board) to deny certification to agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Customs and Border Protection. That certification is necessary to work as a peace officer in Colorado.

The proposal also seeks to prohibit law enforcement agents from wearing face coverings or other means of concealing their identity while out in the field. The Denver City Council is considering the same prohibition.

House Bill 1275 declares that federal qualified immunity does not prohibit the state from criminally prosecuting a federal law enforcement officer.

The proposals are the latest salvo, as Democrats position the state and jurisdictions they dominate in a more confrontational stance vis-a-vis the Trump administration. The attorney general, for example, wants residents to report alleged misconduct by federal agents via an online tool.

Earlier this month, the Denver City Council advanced a proposed ordinance to ban local, state, and federal law enforcement agents from wearing face coverings or masks while conducting arrests. California became the first state to implement a law enforcement mask ban last fall, but its implementation has been temporarily paused by a judge following a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice, which argued it violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.

It’s unclear, exactly, how such an ordinance would be enforced. Some have already raised the complications arising from local police confronting federal agents while conducting operations here.

Colorado’s Democrats have clashed with the president on a number of fronts, notably in immigration policy, funding and Space Command. In particular, Democrats have criticized the White House’s immigration enforcement strategies and, specifically, of the Border Patrol’s expanding role in interior operations, even as others have long welcomed such an expansion, arguing it’s the most practical way if the goal is deport a million people annually.

Denver — and by extension, Colorado — have joined the epicenter of the illegal immigration debate in the last few years. Since 2020, roughly 42,500 immigrants have arrived in the Mile High City. The majority are believed to be from Venezuela.

Their arrival, after crossing the southern border illegally, threatened the city’s financial stability, forced the Johnston administration to cut some services and led to a freeze in hiring. The crisis had cost Denver taxpayers scores of millions of dollars.

House Bill 1275 is sponsored by Reps. Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, and Yara Zokaie, D-Fort Collins, as well as by Sens. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, and Iman Jodeh, D-Aurora. No committee hearing date has been set.

A second measure, House Bill 1276, would expand a current law prohibiting employees of state agencies or political subdivisions from disclosing an individual’s immigration status to federal authorities by extending civil penalty liability to the employer.

The bill also requires state agencies or municipalities that are served a subpoena by ICE to send a copy of the subpoena to the state’s Department of Public Safety to upload to its website. If the subpoena is fulfilled, the agency or municipality is required to notify the person who is subject to the subpoena.

Additionally, the measure prohibits a governmental authority or airport from engaging with ICE to transport detained individuals. It also authorizes a public health agency to inspect ICE detention facilities. It expands the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s authority over ICE detention centers by allowing the agency to require detention facilities to comply with certain health and safety standards and pay for environmental impact studies.

Both the Colorado government and the city of Denver have already adopted laws barring cooperation with federal immigration authorities, though political leaders insist neither state nor municipality is a “sanctuary” jurisdiction.

Colorado is currently home to one ICE detention facility, located in Aurora. Plans are afoot to open other facilities in Colorado.

House Bill 1276 is sponsored by Reps. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, and Lorena Garcia, D-Adams County. No committee hearing date has been set.