Dear Governor Polis,
We represent a coalition of organizations and individuals extremely concerned about the Administration’s plans to open several internment camps in Colorado to hold immigrants without due process. While we respect the rule of law, we see these detention centers as a way that this administration is trying to circumvent the laws written into our constitution to protect all Americans. As citizens, we want to be assured you are committed to protecting the rule of law for all Coloradans. The dark (but quite recent) history of concentration camps in Germany and the Japanese internment camps in CO that started as “detention centers” cannot be overlooked or forgotten.
We have grave concerns over:
- The transfer of public tax dollars to private prison operators, especially when you have called a special session of our legislature to address budget shortfalls.
- The arbitrary detention and racial profiling used by masked, unidentified federal agents to apprehend people and disappear them off the streets.
- The negative impact of the proposed detention centers on Colorado’s communities and citizens.
- The potential for abuse and lack of oversight at detention centers.
- Your cooperation with Federal immigration authorities in providing information on individuals that far exceeds the intent to subpoena information for criminal investigations only. Apprehending criminals appears to be the global argument for current ICE activities and yet many individuals being apprehended have no criminal record or even charges.
- The potential for President Trump to abuse Section 287(g) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act to call local law enforcement to work with ICE and act as state militias to enforce his inhumane and often illegal agenda.
These are just a few of the ways in which the proposed detention centers will hurt the people of Colorado. We are calling on you to do the following:
- Publicly denounce the plans for development of more detention centers in Colorado; no further expansion of ICE detention infrastructure in Colorado.
- Address the illegal and inhumane actions already taking place across the state and at the Aurora GEO facility and publicly support the right and ability of our lawmakers to visit and monitor any existing or proposed facility.
- Reinvest in housing, public health, education, and public lands and discuss with community leaders other economic options for these communities so the citizens do not feel they have to make a choice between their morals and putting food on the table.
- Call a special session to discuss our demands and stop subsidizing private prisons with taxpayer dollars.
We are asking you, as our Governor, elected to stand up for all Coloradans, to speak out against the cruel and inhumane policies the federal government is trying to impose on states. This action at the federal level is both immoral and inhumane. We are looking to you to show integrity and leadership by pushing back on cruel policies that do nothing to make us safer and instead harm our people and communities. You were elected to protect the lands and people of our great state and this moment requires you to stand up and speak out.
Delivered August 28, 2025, on behalf of the No Concentration Camps in Colorado coalition