Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams guest hosted the “The Dan Caplis Show” podcast on June 2, during which he interviewed Border Czar Tom Homan about the current immigration policies of Colorado and the federal government. “The Dan Caplis Show” is a syndicated conservative talk radio show on the iHeart Radio network, usually hosted by trial lawyer Dan Caplis. The show often discusses political and current events, particularly in Colorado, amongst a variety of other subjects.
Ream and Homan discussed multiple topics, including the attack that happened in Boulder on Sunday. They also discussed a list published by the Department of Homeland Security last week, which labeled Colorado as a self-described sanctuary state.
Within the list, the DHS labeled multiple states and cities as sanctuary jurisdictions. According to NPR, the list quickly faced criticism from “mayors and law enforcement confused as to why they had been included. Over the weekend, the National Sheriffs' Association President Sheriff Kieran Donahue accused DHS of lacking transparency and accountability in how the list was compiled.”
“This list was created without any input, criteria of compliance, or a mechanism for how to object to the designation,” Donahue said in a statement released on May 31. “Sheriffs nationwide have no way to know what they must do or not do to avoid this arbitrary label. This decision by DHS could create a vacuum of trust that may take years to overcome.”
Colorado leaders also raised concerns about the list, and Weld County was removed from the list following an acknowledgement of error. Governor Jared Polis also responded to the designation and denied that Colorado has policies protecting undocumented immigrants from federal law enforcement agents. The list by DHS was removed on Sunday.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that some of the municipalities pushed back because “they think that because they don't have one law or another on the books that they don't qualify but they do qualify."
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there is no legal definition for sanctuary policies. “The term is applied to jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, such as failing to provide information about immigration status and limiting the length of immigration detainers,” the organization said.
On the podcast, Homan said he believes Colorado is a sanctuary state. “Here’s a game they play,” he said. “They’re saying, if ICE comes with a criminal warrant and we have a very bad guy, we’ll work with ICE. That’s not what the federal law says. So federal law says, when we process for an administrative warrant, the ICE officer issues, not a judge. It’s to turn them over. That’s what the federal statute says. They say that they work with ICE, but they don’t. We don’t have access to the county jails in most of the counties of Colorado. A few of the sheriffs are working behind the scenes with us.”
Sheriff Reams suggested that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like Catholic Charities play a role in bringing undocumented immigrants to the interior of the United States and they use federal funding to do so. Homan agreed and said — without independent verification — that NGOs pay $500 a night for hotels to house undocumented immigrants when ICE detention centers cost $140 a night. When immigrants are released from ICE, they are put on a non-detained docket that can take three to seven years before an immigration hearing takes place, Homan said.
Sheriff Reams mentioned the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” has funding for up to 10,000 ICE agents and asked Homan to send some of those agents to Colorado. Homan said that they will “flood the zone” in Colorado, and Denver specifically because there is a “huge alien population.” Homan also committed to following through on President Trump’s promise of “running the biggest deportation operation this country has ever seen.”
A White House report published on April 28 says the Trump Administration has deported 139,000 immigrants since taking office. President Obama deported 973,937 immigrants during his first year in office and a total of 5.3 million people during his eight years in office. President Biden’s administration deported over 4.6 million people during his four year term while illegal border crossings surged to 2 million per year under the first three years of his term.
