Senator Lindsey Graham lifted his hold on the government funding package Friday after securing a commitment from Senate Majority Leader John Thune to vote on legislation criminalizing sanctuary city officials.
“Colorado es un santuario,” cartel members told federal investigators during interrogations. Colorado is a sanctuary.
David Olesky, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division, revealed the cartel assessment in January 2026. Traffickers explained their reasoning: federal arrest means detention, but state arrest means “their immigration status means nothing.”
Colorado seized 6.7 million fentanyl pills in 2025, a 76 percent increase from the previous year. The state accounted for 14 percent of all fentanyl pills seized nationally despite having 1.7 percent of the U.S. population. The Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels, both designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, identified Colorado’s sanctuary laws as one of three factors attracting their operations.
Graham’s legislation imposes criminal penalties on state and local officials who willfully interfere with federal immigration enforcement. The bill requires officials to notify federal authorities when releasing individuals not legally in the country. Officials who release someone from custody who subsequently kills or seriously injures someone face prosecution.
“We cannot live in a country this way, where you get to pick and choose the laws you don’t like,” Graham said on the Senate floor Friday. “You should literally go to jail if you will not enforce the law.”
Colorado built its sanctuary framework over six years.
House Bill 19-1124, signed by Governor Jared Polis in 2019, prevents law enforcement from complying with federal immigration detainers. House Bill 23-1100, signed in 2023, prohibits state agencies and local governments from contracting for immigration detention facilities. Senate Bill 25-276, signed May 23, 2025, prohibits sharing personal information to assist immigration enforcement and imposes a $50,000 civil penalty per violation.
Mesa County Sheriff’s Deputy Alexander Zwinck pulled over Caroline Dias Goncalves for following a semi-truck too closely on June 5, 2025. The 19-year-old University of Utah nursing student came to the United States from Brazil at age seven. Zwinck shared her information via a Signal chat with federal immigration officials who detained her for 15 days.
Attorney General Phil Weiser sued Zwinck in July 2025 for violating SB 25-276. Sheriff Todd Rowell placed Zwinck and four other employees on unpaid leave. Rowell called the lawsuit “demoralizing” and accused Weiser of selective enforcement for “maximum political effect.”
Zwinck resigned in August 2025. Weiser dropped the individual lawsuit. Mesa County filed a federal lawsuit against Weiser, Polis, and other state officials, arguing SB 25-276 is unconstitutionally vague and violates the Supremacy Clause.
Olesky described the aftermath: “That case that happened in southwest Colorado has caused a chilling effect, where they are fearful they might get prosecuted, even if they have the best of intent.” Federal task force work scaled back. Local cooperation with federal drug interdiction collapsed.
Fentanyl deaths dropped 28 percent nationally in 2024. Colorado fentanyl deaths declined 13.9 percent statewide. Denver fentanyl deaths jumped 25 percent in 2025, from 277 to 346. Total drug overdose deaths rose 7 percent, from 483 to 517.
Thune committed to holding the vote during the two-week window created by the DHS funding extension. The Senate will consider the sanctuary cities legislation before the February 13 deadline. Graham also secured commitment for a future vote on his amendment allowing the 430 Republican individuals and organizations targeted in Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation to sue the government.
Polis insists Colorado is not a sanctuary state. Weiser launched his gubernatorial campaign in 2025, raising $850,000 in the third quarter. He maintains a $3 million war chest for his primary against Senator Michael Bennet.
“If you want to know why Colorado, the best person to explain it is the cartels themselves,” Olesky said. “It’s not me.”
Graham lifted his hold after Thune agreed to the vote. The Senate passed the spending package 71-29 Friday evening. The House returns Monday to vote on the measure. A brief weekend shutdown will occur before the House reopens the government next week.
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