Q&A: Denver councilmember on the effort to unmask ICE agents

DENVER — A new law would make it illegal for law enforcement officers, including ICE agents, to wear masks while arresting or detaining people in Denver.

Denver City Council members Flor Alvidrez and Shontel Lewis co-sponsored the bill, which, if passed, would allow Denver police officers to arrest federal agents for covering their faces.

The bill comes at a moment when people across the country are protesting against ICE for its large-scale immigration crackdowns in American cities, including Minneapolis, where masked ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good, a protester in her car.

Good’s killing sparked nationwide outrage and protests. Since then, the Trump administration doubled down on its tactics and rhetoric. Trump administration officials quickly labeled Good as a “domestic terrorist.”

Federal agents shot and killed another person, an ICU nurse named Alex Pretti, Saturday, Jan. 24. It was the third shooting involving Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis this year. 

Last week, a memo obtained by the Associated Press showed that ICE authorized its officers to forcibly enter homes without a warrant, a directive that “flies in the face” of the Constitution, a law professor told the AP.

Councilwoman Alvidrez represents District 7, which covers part of southwest Denver and is one of the most Hispanic/Latino districts in the city. The idea for the bill came from her constituents, she said.

Alvidrez is expecting more ICE activity in Denver in the future and sees her legislation as a way to be “best prepared.” Alvidrez and Lewis introduced the bill earlier this month, and Alvidrez expects the council’s Health and Safety Committee to review the proposed bill in February. The next step after that would be a full council vote in March, she said.

Rocky Mountain PBS asked Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) if he supports the legislation.

"Law enforcement should be held accountable to the public they serve. At bare minimum, that means residents have a right to know who is detaining them and why they are doing so," a spokesperson for the mayor said. "The City Attorney’s Office is working with City Council to ensure this legislation follows best practices and aligns with local, state, and federal law and we will have more to share as the process unfolds."

Rocky Mountain PBS spoke to Alvidrez about the bill, its path to becoming a law and what she is hearing from her constituents who are concerned about immigration enforcement.  

Flor Alvidrez: I received calls from constituents around January of last year, February of last year, where people were very terrified of reports that were being seen online and eyewitness events where people were showing up in masks and taking their neighbors.

There were a lot of rumors at that time that there was vigilantism, that there were people who are not law enforcement that were kidnapping people. And people didn't know what to do, or who was immigration enforcement, who was a local police officer or what was happening.

And so it's taken a whole year to really think about what the best policy to bring forward was, but directly from community there were [questions] about how do they know when it is an immigration enforcement officer, and I couldn't tell them because if someone's wearing a mask and not identifying themselves, that really limits their capacity to go about their daily lives. 

FA: Absolutely. I think that we are anticipating more ICE activity in the City and County of Denver and we want to be best prepared. And when I see people getting shot in the face online, when I see … ICE agents walking in, guns drawn, to businesses, to homes — we really need to act.

[An ICE agent in St. Paul, Minnesota, entered a Thai restaurant Jan. 19 with his gun drawn, claiming to look for a “kid,” according to video footage and the restaurant’s owner.]

One of the questions I've gotten is won't this [bill] escalate situations if police are involved, but situations already escalated. People are already dying. And so I don't think that's the case, and I think now more than ever it's important that we as a city have to decide how we're going to protect our residents.

FA: We are in communication with our Denver police about this and trying to find out what they are actually willing to do. But what I can say is that Denver Police pride themselves as being a progressive police force that has worked really hard to repair wounds.

And they [DPD] feel like all of this work to build their reputation as community oriented is being tarnished by federal law enforcement. They are very proud of the work that they do on a daily basis and they have built relationships and trust within the immigrant community here in Denver, and they want to continue to build that trust.

Figuring out what it looks like if they show up when ICE is also present is something that we're figuring out together. 

FA: One of the things I anticipate adding is to require visible badge numbers and identification markers for all law enforcement. And additionally, to be able to cite agents without being present. 

FA: So, I do think that the legislation from California that's being litigated at this moment is going to set the precedent for this, potentially. 

[Last year, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed a law that would make it illegal for law enforcement officers, including ICE agents, to wear non-medical face coverings while working. The Trump administration sued California, arguing the law violates the Constitution's Supremacy Clause which states that federal laws supersede state laws.]

So I think that it will be enforceable. 

FA: I will say that ICE is here in Denver. I have directly received reports from constituents. I received a report just last week from a business on South Broadway that said their employee showed up for work at a restaurant and before the employee could get from their car to the business, ICE was there very quickly and took them very quickly. That is terrible.

What we are also worried about is just collateral damage, [like] invasions of our small businesses. I am also hearing harassment in communities where people are pretending to be ICE, where small businesses are receiving calls saying that they're demanding their employment records, and it's not ICE and it's not the state. So there is harassment from vigilantes as well as the actual threats that they're facing.

And what I'm trying to do is provide some sense of normal life, some sort of accountability, and to protect them from — yes, ICE, and the violence that comes with that — but also these vigilantes that are hatefully attacking my community members.

From the people in my district, I'm hearing stories of losing loved ones. I'm hearing fear of how to react.

When all of this started, we did look at providing the red cards that help someone in that situation know they don't need to open the door and things of that nature. We don't believe that ICE is following constitutional rights, and so that's part of the fear that I have — how do I tell my constituents to enforce their constitutional rights when there's no respect for them from the federal side right now? 

FA: What I tell my constituents is to always remain calm. Regardless of the situation, always remain calm. 

I also advised them to say as little as possible. I do provide them with red cards. But what I impress upon my community is to remain calm, remain nonviolent, and that will get you a long way in my experience.

I have immigrant businesses in my district that have been victims of crime. One of the biggest stories that we had was when a Latino-owned jewelry store was robbed by people connected to Tren de Aragua. One of the people in that video was someone I went to high school with. This is very close to my heart. They want criminal activity to be removed. The immigrant community wants to be safe just like everyone else, and I think that's why Trump did win some of the Latino vote, because a lot of immigrants are victims of crime. And they want some form of law and order in the city.

But what I am hearing from my constituents is, “The guy that comes in and robs me is still running around free while my neighbor from church was taken for no reason.”