Colorado's Douglas County commissioners unanimously support Trump's immigration plans, deportations

John Aguilar, The Denver Post on Jan 15, 2025

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DENVER — Douglas County’s three commissioners adopted a resolution Tuesday that gives full backing to incoming President Donald Trump’s plans to deport immigrants living illegally in the country.

The measure, one of the first items voted on by newly seated Commissioner Kevin Van Winkle, echoes one that the Castle Rock City Council passed last month. The vote among the three Republican commissioners was unanimous.

“We want to be very clear. We support legal immigration,” Commissioner Abe Laydon said in a statement issued Tuesday. “We don’t support illegal immigration, which often harms our legal immigrant community the most.”

Conservative Douglas County has taken a hard line on migrants, a record number of whom arrived in Colorado from late 2022 through early 2024. Last year, the county sued the state over two laws enacted in the last half-decade that made it harder for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

The suit was struck down by a judge last month.

Douglas County’s resolution requests that the president-elect’s immigration policies be implemented throughout Colorado. Trump takes office as president — his second time in that position — on Monday.

“With public safety as our top priority, we want the President-elect to know that Douglas County is standing out from the crowd in Colorado — in support of his policies,” Commissioner George Teal said in a statement. “This illegal immigration crisis has harmed local communities for far too long.”

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