Castle Rock is moving forward with an agreement that would allow a new Douglas County ordinance banning buses from making “unplanned” passenger drop-offs to be enforced within the town.
Town council members voted unanimously to draft an agreement to adopt the county’s ordinance, which came in response to the tens of thousands of mostly Venezuelan migrants arriving in Denver, many of whom have been sent by the Texas governor.
The agreement would allow the sheriff’s office to enforce the ban on unplanned passenger drop-offs in Castle Rock, which has its own police department.
According to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, deputies have not received any calls for service regarding unplanned drop-offs.
Council members called the ordinance a preventative step to deter migrants from coming to town.
“All laws are unnecessary until they become necessary and then it’s too late, so this is an action to dissuade, not an action of pure symbolism,” council member Max Brooks said.
Council member Laura Cavey added that she believes being proactive is the right thing to do.
“I don’t think it’s an if this will happen, but a when,” she said.
The office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, in March said that it has sent more than 100,000 migrants who crossed the U.S. border to “sanctuary” cities, including New York City, Los Angeles and Denver.
The council also voted in favor of drafting a resolution supporting the county’s immigration lawsuit against the state.
Douglas County, along with El Paso, Elbert, Garfield, Mesa and Rio Blanco counties, is suing Colorado over two laws that prohibit law enforcement officers from working with federal immigration agencies.
Town attorney Michael Hyman said Castle Rock doesn’t have standing to join the lawsuit because the town doesn’t have a detention facility, so it hasn’t been directly impacted by the laws.
Instead, Hyman recommended the council pass a resolution of support.
“We do think we’d have challenges in joining the lawsuit that we can’t overcome to get our arguments in court,” he said. “We can certainly lend our morale, support and voice to the county.”
Council members Brooks, Cavey and Tim Dietz also expressed interest in joining the lawsuit as individual taxpayers.
The council will vote on the resolution at its June 4 meeting.