By Taylor Dolven, the Colorado Sun
This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at coloradosun.com.
Colorado will not comply with a subpoena from federal immigration agents asking the state to turn over the personal information of 35 people who are sponsors of unaccompanied immigrant minors until at least June 23, lawyers for Gov. Jared Polis said in court Monday.
That’s when attorneys for Polis and state Division of Labor Standards and Statistics Director Scott Moss will meet in court again.
Moss alleges in a whistleblower lawsuit filed last week that Polis ordered him and his team to comply with a subpoena from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeking the personal information of people known as sponsors, who care for immigrant children whose parents are absent.
Moss says complying with the request would violate Colorado laws that prohibit state agencies from releasing information to ICE.
Central to the case is whether ICE will use the information to investigate criminal activity or not. Colorado law allows state agencies to comply with federal immigration agents’ information requests only when it's for criminal investigations.
The two-page “Immigration Enforcement Subpoena” from ICE Special Agent Nelson Torres addressed to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment on April 24 did not cite any alleged crimes by the sponsors of unaccompanied immigrant minors. The subpoena indicates that ICE’s investigation is not about “child exploitation and/or the transmission of child pornography,” leaving a box next to that description unchecked.
The subpoena said the personal information — unemployment benefit filings, insurance records, employer information, addresses and telephone and email contact information — will be used to locate unaccompanied children to “ensure that these children are appropriately located, properly cared for, and are not subjected to crimes of human trafficking or other forms of exploitation.” It doesn’t, however, cite evidence of why the agency feels it needs the information.
The sponsors ICE is seeking information about are adults who agree to provide care to immigrant minors when their parents are absent and are usually family members. All sponsors must pass a background check, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Between October 2024 and May 2025, more than 400 minors were released to sponsors in Colorado, according to HHS.
A spokesperson for ICE said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Given Moss’ lawsuit, Polis has agreed to hold off on complying with the request – for now.
Polis’ spokesperson Shelby Wieman said in a statement the governor decided to comply with the subpoena “due to concerns about potential crimes against vulnerable minors.”
“Complying with this federal subpoena meets the requirements laid out in state law and providing this information is in service of investigating and preventing any criminal activity, which Gov. Polis is deeply committed to,” she said.
Labor unions representing state employees — Colorado WINS and AFL-CIO — and the liberal civil rights nonprofit Towards Justice vowed at a news conference Monday to join the lawsuit against Polis, highlighting the growing frustration toward the governor among Democrats and liberal groups.
Senate President James Coleman, a Denver Democrat, joined the protest against the governor Monday, along with elected officials who sponsored the privacy bills signed into law by Polis that prevent information sharing with ICE.
State Sen. Julie Gonzalez, a Denver Democrat who led the push for the bills, admonished Polis for complying with the subpoena.
“I want to know how Gov. Polis can continue to think that he can lead our state,” she said.
Diane Byrne, president of Colorado WINS, which represents thousands of state employees, said she is concerned ICE will use the employment information to target workplaces for immigration raids.
David Seligman, executive director of Towards Justice, said if the state complies with the subpoena it will have a chilling effect on reporting labor abuse to the state.
“We tell the people who call us what Colorado law says that they should feel comfortable filing their complaints with the Department of Labor, because Colorado will keep their information safe because they have legal rights, because Colorado will not do the bidding of ICE,” said Seligman, a Democrat who is running for attorney general.
Lawyers for Polis said the state risks consequences from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for not complying by its deadline, which was May 26. Thomas M. Rogers, an attorney representing the governor, called the subpoena “straightforward.”
“[Moss’ lawyers] want to make this a circus about the deportation of kids, not what it is on its face . . . a straightforward case,” he said.
A lawyer for Moss, Laura Beth Wolf, said she does not believe the information is being used to investigate human trafficking.
“There is … evidence that that is not true,” she said.
And she pointed out that the subpoena compliance deadline has passed and ICE hasn’t taken further action.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story had an incorrect deadline for the federal request. Colorado was given a deadline of May 26.
Colorado Capitol Alliance
This story was produced by the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
