A judge has denied Gov. Jared Polis’ request to dismiss the case against him in state court alleging his attempt to comply with a subpoena from Immigration and Customs Enforcement breaks state law.
Denver District Judge A. Bruce Jones on Wednesday rejected Polis’ motion to dismiss the case originally brought by former state labor department employee Scott Moss. Moss sued Polis in June after the governor ordered Moss to comply with a subpoena from ICE for personal information of Coloradans acting as sponsors for unaccompanied immigrant children.
Just weeks after Moss filed the lawsuit, Jones blocked Polis from ordering certain state workers to hand over personal information to ICE while the case could be heard. The Polis administration has given records to ICE several times since February, including one instance officials said was in error.
Colorado law prohibits state agencies from providing personal information to federal immigration officials unless it is related to a criminal investigation. Polis has argued that the subpoena at the center of the case is related to a human trafficking investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, an argument Jones has so far rejected.
The subpoena is titled “Immigration Enforcement Subpoena” and says the feds want the information to locate the unaccompanied children to ensure they aren’t being exploited.
Since the June ruling, Polis has argued in court that he should be able to give ICE some records of Coloradans.
His lawyers asked Jones to dismiss the case, arguing partly that since Moss no longer works at the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, he does not have standing, and that another plaintiff, Towards Justice, a nonprofit that represents workers in wage theft claims, also does not have standing.
Moss, the former director of the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics at Colorado’s Department of Labor, resigned from his post. His last day there was Aug. 12.
Judge Jones found that Moss and Towards Justice have standing in his ruling last week, provided to The Sun by Moss’ attorney. The ruling means that the case against Polis will continue.
In a statement, the governor’s spokesperson Shelby Wieman said, “Polis is committed to protecting Coloradans against human trafficking. While he disagrees with the decision, he respects the opinion regarding standing and cannot comment further on pending litigation.”
Moss said in a statement, “The question is whether Governor Polis and Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Director (Joe) Barela really will make the mystifying decision to spend their lame duck year cementing their legacy as collaborators doing the indefensible bidding of Trump’s brutal ICE troops.”
Polis has until Dec. 10 to respond to the original complaint.
