Overview

• Since February, Colorado agencies disclosed residents’ personal information in response to four federal immigration subpoenas, with three deemed valid under the criminal-investigation exception and one fulfilled in error.
• A state judge last month barred compliance with an ICE labor-department subpoena for failing to meet the criminal-investigation requirement in Colorado law.
• None of the nine subpoenas issued this year carried a judge’s signature, complicating legal assessments of their validity under the state’s privacy protections.
• The requests sought broad personal data—including names, wages, birthdays, Social Security numbers and addresses—from departments of labor, marijuana enforcement and public health.
• New protocols will route every DHS subpoena through the governor’s office for pre-approval to prevent future unauthorized disclosures.