The legislative session is a wrap. Among the surge of bills is another reckless effort to enshrine Colorado’s status as a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants — this time by challenging the feds directly.

The legislature pushed through Senate Bill 26-005 with party-line votes, giving anyone “injured” during an immigration enforcement operation the ability to sue federal agents in state court. As reported by our news affiliate Colorado Politics, the bill permits “legal or equitable relief” if an agent “violates” the U.S. Constitution while participating in an immigration enforcement action.

SB 5 was spearheaded by Democratic state Sens. Julie Gonzales of Denver and Mike Weissman of Aurora. Both are hardliners among the Capitol’s anti-cop crowd, working to weaken law enforcement and bar cooperation with federal authorities on immigration enforcement.

This bill is their ticket to do both. It establishes a tripwire for suing any immigration official accused of violating someone’s rights while doing their job. Any legal action is subject to a two-year statute of limitations.

It echoes 2020, when the Democratic majority barreled into the soft-on-crime political fringes by revoking qualified immunity from law officers across Colorado and making them personally liable in lawsuits — creating a chilling effect on officers working under the specter of litigation.

The bill would further cement Colorado’s status as a sanctuary for illegal immigration, including its criminal element. Under Polis’ tenure, the legislature has passed an array of laws barring state cooperation with federal agencies on immigration enforcement.

It’s already against the law in Colorado for state law enforcement to proactively assist ICE. Now, SB 5 will penalize federal law enforcement agents if they’re alleged to violate someone’s civil rights while doing their job.

Do states even have the power to permit lawsuits against federal law officers for acts carried out in the line of duty? How would that be enforced?

Apparently, Gonzales, Weissman and the legislature’s ruling Democrats don’t care. They seem too busy trying to score political points among the defiance-first wing of their party’s progressives.

A legislative declaration cites case law supporters claim permits such lawsuits, but the legal basis remains dubious — and beside the point: SB 5 reinforces Colorado’s sanctuary status and undermines law enforcement.

The only real question now is whether lame duck Gov. Jared Polis cares as the measure heads for his desk.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, the governor has stuck to his familiar refrain — Sanctuary? What sanctuary? — with a straight face. Maybe he’s in denial; maybe it’s just politics as usual.

But if he really wants us all to believe Colorado isn’t a sanctuary for illegal immigration, here’s his chance to make the case: Veto SB 5.

Make sure this bill meets the same fate as an even more extreme version this session. That alternative would have opened floodgates to suing any federal, state or local official who allegedly violates the rights of a plaintiff-in-waiting. Thankfully, that bill was thwarted earlier in the legislature without the governor having to act on it. 

Vetoing SB 5 would spare Colorado another needless confrontation with the Trump administration, which is certain to oppose such a brazen policy. The state already has wrangled plenty with the president over the issue; Colorado’s Democratic attorney general has been suing the administration at every turn. Why paint Colorado into another corner?

Unless Polis wants his legacy to be that of a governor who welcomed the world to Colorado’s doorstep — U.S. borders be damned — he should veto SB 5.