DENVER (KDVR) — A Colorado official alleges in a new lawsuit filed Wednesday that Gov. Jared Polis ordered him and others to comply with a subpoena from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even though state law prohibits that.
The lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court, alleges Polis went against his public stances opposing cooperation with immigration officials and state laws that he signed when he directed Scott Moss, director of the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment’s Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, and other state employees “to provide federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) the personally identifying information of at least dozens, and possibly far more, individuals in response to an administrative (not court-issued) subpoena that ICE served to enforce federal civil immigration law.”
“For years, Colorado has repeatedly reassured members of the public that they can use state services, including for reporting labor violations and claiming labor rights, without fear that Colorado will misuse their personal information by turning it over to federal immigration authorities to seize and deport them, their family members, their personal or professional contacts, or others — But in late spring 2025, barely one week after signing the 2025 law expanding the ban on disclosing personal information for purposes of federal immigration enforcement, Governor Polis directed state employees to violate these legal protections and assurances,” the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit further said Polis’ directive harms “an unknown but potentially large number of state employees” who risk profession and personal harms, as well as penalties of up to $50,000.
ICE request to share ‘personally identifying information’
According to the lawsuit, state employees in the Colorado Department of Labor & Employment on April 24 received an “immigration enforcement subpoena” from a Homeland Security Investigations unit within ICE requesting the information be given to an official at ICE.
The lawsuit states “the subpoena is for ‘investigative activities to locate unaccompanied alien children’ and to ‘ensure that the children are being properly cared for.'”
The lawsuit states the subpoena was administrative — not issued by a judge — a distinction that would prohibit the release of the information under SB25-276, which Polis himself signed last month on May 23, that states that state employees can only give information when “required to comply with a court-issued subpoena, warrant, or order,” or as required by law.
The lawsuit says the subpoena did not request the information for a judicial proceeding, nor was it for a criminal investigation, just a civil one.
Polis admin. allegedly says to produce information, overriding legal ban
Moss was told by the Polis administration in early May that it “had decided not to produce the PII requested by the subpoena,” according to the lawsuit, but “Only weeks later, in the last week of May – and just before the May 26th production date ICE requested – Governor Polis personally decided, and state officials including Moss were notified, that Polis wanted CDLE to produce the PII requested by the ICE subpoena.”
Moss repeatedly told the administration verbally and in a memo attached to the lawsuit that it would be illegal to produce the information requested, but on June 2, Monday, Moss was reportedly told Polis’ decision to comply with the subpoena was final. Moss was told, according to the lawsuit, he must provide ICE with the information by the end of the week, Friday.
“The ICE collaboration directive thereby imposes a choice between harmful options upon Moss and other state employees: illegally disclose PII of the Impacted Population for ICE for immigration enforcement, risking financial, licensing, professional, and reputational harm to themselves, and deeper harm to the immigrants who entrusted their PII to them; or decline to commit the illegal act Governor Polis ordered, risking termination or other negative professional and personal consequences,” according to the lawsuit.
Lawsuit asks for restraining order preventing cooperation
The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction and permanent
injunction stopping Polis from directing Moss to comply with the subpoena or release any personally identifying information.
It also seeks “a declaration as a matter of law that Colorado law prohibits Plaintiff and any other person from responding to or otherwise producing PII in response to the April 24th Immigration
Enforcement Subpoena,” as well as attorney fees and costs associated with the lawsuit.
FOX31 reached out to Gov. Jared Polis’ office for a statement.
“Child exploitation has no place in Colorado, and we are not a sanctuary state. And we are committed to partnering on criminal investigations with local and federal partners, including to protect against human trafficking and child exploitation. Helping federal law enforcement partners locate and, if necessary, rescue children being abused and trafficked is not only in line with the law but also a moral imperative.. We expect the courts will agree. We are committed to protecting Personal Identifying Information (PII) with regard to purely civil matters.
It is important to produce records in accordance with criminal investigations to ensure the safety of Coloradans and, most importantly, to protect and ensure the safety of children. Attempts to delay or block this information could prolong criminal exploitation and abuse of children, and we are eager to assist. We would comply unless a court deems otherwise.
That said, it is critical that if the federal government seeks to use subpoenas to compel the release of information in connection with criminal investigations, be transparent about its investigations to the extent possible and that it not misuse that power,” said a spokesperson from the Governor’s Office.
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