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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (CN) — A Mesa County sheriff’s deputy who hoped to receive “bitchin’ Christmas baskets” for helping immigration authorities detain a nursing student in June is facing two claims of illegally sharing personal identifying information filed by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser on Monday.
“State law specifies that Colorado law enforcement officers are dedicated to enforcing Colorado law and do not do the work of the federal government to enforce immigration law,” the Democrat said in a statement.
On June 5, Mesa County sheriff’s deputy Alexander Zwinck pulled over a 19-year-old nursing student for trailing a semi-truck on I-70.
As a member of the Western Colorado Drug Task Force, Zwinck regularly works with federal law enforcement to police local drug trafficking. According to Weiser’s 12-page lawsuit filed in the Mesa County District Court, Zwinck uploaded the woman’s information into a Signal chat that included Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers.
Weiser claims Zwinck knew about the limitation, pointing to a department email sent in January reminding deputies that “Colorado law narrowly restricts Mesa County Sheriff Office’s ability to enforce immigration issues.”
After running the driver’s information through their own database, immigration agents found the Brazilian national had no criminal history but suspected an expired visa. The nursing student is unnamed in the complaint.
“Instead of ending the traffic stop, as there was no further criminal law enforcement purpose to effectuate, Deputy Zwinck then took affirmative steps to assist the federal immigration officers in ultimately detaining the driver for the purpose of enforcing federal civil immigration,” Weiser wrote in the complaint.
Zwinck asked the driver to sit in his patrol car, according to Weiser, stalling until ICE agents arrived and detained her. ICE agents praised Zwinck in the chat, saying “nice work.”
Colorado authorities also claim Zwinck helped alert ICE agents to another individual with suspected visa issues on June 10, telling them, “we better get some bitchin’ Christmas baskets from you guys.”
Citing an ongoing investigation of the incident, a spokesperson for the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment.
In recent years, Colorado has strengthened protections for immigrants, including two laws — HB19-1114, Protect Colorado Residents From Federal Government Overreach, and HB23-1100, Restrict Government Involvement in Immigration Detention — that bar local governments from aiding federal immigration enforcement.
Conservative counties sued to repeal the laws last year and are appealing after dismissal. In May, the Trump administration also sued over so-called sanctuary laws, arguing federal immigration enforcement requires local cooperation.
Colorado laws SB21-131, the Protect Personal Identifying Information Kept by State Act, and SB25-276, the Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status Act, bar state agencies from sharing names, birthdays, family contacts and other personal data with ICE.
Earlier this month, a Denver judge upheld the laws by granting an injunction to prevent the state employment agency from similarly sharing personal information with immigration agents.
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