Colorado Democrats approved a bill during a committee hearing Monday that would allow people to sue immigration officers for alleged constitutional violations, following a tense month of nationwide protests against immigration operations and the fatal shootings of two citizens in Minneapolis.

“Government officials are subject to the law,” said Senator Mike Weissman, an Aurora Democrat who is running the bill at the Legislature. “When we have rights, we also need to have remedies when those rights are violated, or can we truly be said to have rights at all?”

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Senate Bill 26-5 is one bill in a package lawmakers aim to pass this legislative session related to how immigration enforcement personnel can operate in the state and accountability measures for immigration agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It is sponsored by Weissman and Senator Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat.

The bill would allow people to sue federal immigration officers in state court if they think their constitutional rights were violated during civil immigration enforcement, with a statute of limitations of two years. It also strips any immunities an officer might have under other laws, including qualified immunity.

During the first year of the Trump administration’s mass immigration detention and deportation effort, ICE officers have pursued increasingly severe methods in their operations, including smashing car windows to remove drivers and passengers, forcibly entering private homes without a warrant and using tear gas on protesters. Last October, state investigators launched a probe into the use of force by ICE officers on a woman during a protest in Durango. In January, immigration enforcement officers shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were observing enforcement operations in Minneapolis.

My message to ICE agencies is ‘I was just following orders’ is no excuse for committing atrocities.

“What we have seen in this moment is a shift in tactics, an increase in use of force and officials at the highest levels of the federal government, including (White House Deputy Chief of Staff) Stephen Miller, (Department of Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem and (former Border Patrol commander at large) Greg Bovino, have said there is no stopping their force,” Gonzales said. “Except I believe that the Constitution protects us all.”

Supporters say the bill would give a concrete legal remedy for affected people.

“Constitutional rights are supposed to come with enforcement mechanisms,” said Meagan Forbes, the director of legislation at the Institute of Justice. “This bill restores a basic accountability mechanism that was once available through common law, but that has now been largely gutted.”

Federal law allows people to bring civil rights lawsuits against state and local officials, such as police officers, but there’s not a similar pathway for lawsuits against federal agents. Illinois recently passed a law that’s similar to SB-5.

Party-line vote

Senator Lynda Zamora Wilson, an El Paso County Republican, said the bill would invite “expansive litigation abuses.”

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“I’m afraid that this is going to cause a chilling effect, not just in our federal agents, but statewide,” she said. “You’re opening up a demand for these lawsuits. If we’re going to protect constitutional rights, we should target and support reforms at the federal level.”

The bill passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote. It’s likely Senate Republicans will also be uniformly opposed to the bill, as they were on a Democratic resolution Monday that criticized immigration enforcement tactics.

“We have now two large federal agencies that have been weaponized — sometimes explicitly in their own statements and their own documents that have come to light — for the purpose of infringing on the First, Second, Fourth and Fifth amendments,” said Senator Nick Hinrichsen, a Pueblo Democrat. “Nothing in this bill has anything to do with law enforcement dutifully enforcing the laws of this nation. It has to do with infringements of those constitutional rights.”

Mask ban

Lawmakers will also introduce at least two other bills related to ICE enforcement and cooperation in Colorado. One of them would prohibit ICE officers from wearing masks and require them to wear identification, including their agency name and identification number. Another bill would require publication of all subpoenas issued by the Department of Homeland Security, notification to people if their information was shared with federal officials, and regular inspections in immigration detention centers.

The bills build on work from last year, when lawmakers strengthened a statute that prohibits agencies and local governments from sharing immigration status data with the federal government, except for criminal cases. Last year, Governor Jared Polis directed a state employee to provide such data about adult sponsors of unaccompanied immigrant minors, but a judge ruled that Polis could not compel the employee to do so.

Bill sponsors and community supporters publicly unveiled the bill package at a rally outside the Capitol in Denver on Monday.

“My message to ICE agencies is ‘I was just following orders’ is no excuse for committing atrocities,” said Representative Yara Zokaie, a Fort Collins Democrat. “Our communities will continue our efforts to abolish ICE, and once we successfully do so, we will then make it our mission to use evidence of your cruelty to hold you accountable.”