Executive Order 152

TO: All Agencies Under the Mayor
FROM: Michael Johnston, Mayor
DATE: February 26, 2026

SUBJECT: EXECUTIVE ORDER TO PROTECT DENVERITES FROM UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND DANGEROUS FEDERAL OPERATIONS

PURPOSE: Denver is a city built on trust, safety, and the belief that every person deserves dignity and respect. When civil immigration enforcement operations disrupt our neighborhoods, they don’t just target individuals—they spread fear, tear families apart, and erode the trust that holds our community together. These actions put our residents and law enforcement personnel at risk and undermine the values we stand for as a community. Our responsibility is clear: we will work to protect the people who call Denver home and guard against federal overreach. This means setting firm boundaries on how immigration enforcement operates within Denver, safeguarding public spaces, and ensuring accountability when those boundaries are crossed. This Executive Order is meant to effectuate and reinforce the City and County of Denver’s (the “City”) Constitutional right to protect the public health, welfare, and safety of its community.

1.0 Executive Order Authority
1. 1.1
  The Mayor.
  1. 1.1.1 The Mayor issues this Executive Order pursuant to the Authority granted the Mayor in §2.2.1 of the Charter.
  2. 1.1.2 All agencies must comply with the requirements of this Executive Order. References in this Executive Order to "agencies" or "agency" includes City agencies, offices, departments, and commissions.
2.0 Restriction of the Use of City Property
1. 2.1 All City agencies with authority over physical property shall not allow any City-owned or City-controlled property—including, but not limited to City-owned buildings, parks, parking lots, right-of-ways, and any interior or exterior portion thereof—to be used as a staging area, processing location, or operations base in furtherance of civil immigration enforcement operations, unless the immigration officials have obtained a valid court order, judicial warrant, or as otherwise required by law.
2. 2.2 Prohibited uses of City-owned or City-controlled property include assembling, mobilizing, or deploying personnel, vehicles, equipment, or materials for the purpose of civil immigration enforcement.
3. 2.3 All City agencies with authority over physical property shall, where appropriate and feasible, incorporate physical barriers such as locked gates and doors to limit access to City-owned or controlled parking lots, vacant lots, garages, and non-public portions of City facilities.
4. 2.4 The City's Chief Operating Officer shall consult with leaders from relevant City agencies to identify City-owned and City-controlled property that is likely to be used for prohibited purposes described in this Section. Signage will be posted at such locations indicating that the property is owned and/or controlled by the City and is restricted to municipally authorized uses. The signage shall state "This property is owned or controlled by the City of Denver. It may only be used for its intended City purpose and not used for immigration enforcement as a staging area, process location, or operations base."
5. 2.5 Any City employee who witnesses the attempted or actual use of a City-owned or City-controlled property for a prohibited purpose described in this Section shall immediately report this occurrence to the Department of Human Rights and Community Partnerships ("HRCP").
3.0 Signage for Private Property
1. 3.1 Community Planning and Development shall work with the Department of Law (the "City Attorney's Office") to make a template of signage available to private property owners and leaseholders who seek to restrict private spaces from being used for civil immigration enforcement purposes. Property owners and leaseholders assume any legal responsibility associated therewith.
4.0 Protecting Residents in City Locations
1. 4.1 The City's Marketing and Communications Department shall work with the City Attorney's Office to reiterate existing guidance for any City employed front-line staff at buildings and properties within City limits, including public schools, libraries, senior centers, community centers, shelters, stadiums, churches, courthouses, and hospitals (collectively, "Protected Spaces") reaffirming the City's long-held position that these locations are available to provide specific services to the public, and are to be accessed for those purposes only.
2. 4.2 The City shall not allow civil immigration enforcement personnel into non-public spaces or provide information regarding a person's immigration status without a valid judicial warrant, court order, or as otherwise required by law.
3. 4.3 The City's Chief Operating Officer shall work with the relevant agencies to identify all City-owned and City-controlled non-public spaces that are likely to be targeted by civil immigration enforcement in order to effectuate the provisions of this Section.
5.0 Ban on Racial Profiling
1. 5.1 Absent indicia of illegal activity or probable cause, civil immigration enforcement personnel may not stop, detain, question or search individuals based on location, occupation, language, accent, race, or ethnicity.
6.0 Transparency in Law Enforcement Conduct
1. 6.1 The Denver Police Department ("DPD"), the Denver Sheriff Department ("DSD"), and the Denver Fire Department (collectively, with DPD and DSD the "Safety Agency" or "Safety Agencies"), shall instruct their personnel that the on-scene supervisor(s) at any immigration enforcement site where they are present will attempt to identify, verify, and record, when it's tactically safe and won't interfere with immigration law enforcement operations, the on-scene supervisory immigration officer's name, badge, or identification number.
2. 6.2 All Safety Agency personnel at the scene of an immigration enforcement action shall use their body worn cameras, if applicable, to record the event and shall preserve the video pursuant to their evidence preservation protocols.
3. 6.3 The City's Technology Services Department shall, consistent with state law, work with the Safety Agencies and the City Attorney's Office to publicly release video footage of violence or property damage caused by civil immigration enforcement personnel captured by body-worn cameras or other City-controlled cameras, provided that such release does not unduly interfere with an active criminal investigation, or violate the law.
7.0 De-Escalation of Federal Provocations and Provision of First Aid
1. 7.1 In the event of civil immigration enforcement operations, including a surge in ICE agents or other federal law enforcement personnel, the Safety Agencies shall use their established de-escalation protocols to try to protect peaceful protestors and ensure public health, welfare, safety, and the preservation of First Amendment rights.
2. 7.2 Safety Agencies shall use their agency-approved tactics and techniques to try to maintain the peace and de-escalate potential conflicts with members of the public and law enforcement personnel.
3. 7.3 On-scene Safety Agency personnel shall provide clear communication to bystanders explaining they are present only to try and protect public health, welfare, and safety, and not to assist with the immigration enforcement action.
4. 7.4 Safety Agencies shall instruct their personnel that they must protect and aid people in life-threatening situations, regardless of the law enforcement agency perpetrating the harm. Safety Agencies shall instruct their personnel to summon emergency medical assistance and immediately render aid to anyone injured at the scene of any immigration enforcement action. First responders shall render aid according to their existing protocols and established standards of care.
5. 7.5 HRCP shall provide public-facing information on strategies for supporting immigrant communities in ways that do not cause unintended consequences and increase safety risks.
8.0 Investigation of Criminal Conduct by Civil Immigration Enforcement Personnel
1. 8.1 The City's Marketing and Communications Department shall, in partnership with the relevant agencies, provide communications to residents that DPD shall investigate reports of violence, property damage, high-speed chases within City limits, and allegations of criminal conduct by civil immigration enforcement personnel, and appropriately document such incidents. Such investigations shall occur regardless of whether there is a parallel federal investigation; and DPD shall work in collaboration with the City Attorney's Office, the Denver District Attorney, or the Colorado Attorney General to file criminal charges, as appropriate.
2. 8.2 All Safety Agency personnel who receive information from the public regarding conduct by civil immigration enforcement personnel that constitutes an apparent violation of City, state, or federal law, shall notify their supervisor who will ensure a report is taken and an investigation occurs.
3. 8.3 DPD will lead independent investigations into reported violations of Colorado Revised Statutes Title 24, Article 31, Part 9 and make referrals of felony matters to the Denver District Attorney or Colorado Attorney General, regardless of whether a parallel federal investigation occurs.
4. 8.4 The Safety Agencies shall work with the City's Marketing and Communications Department, to the extent allowed by law, to publicly share aggregated data regarding reported incidents of suspected unlawful conduct by civil immigration enforcement personnel. The reports shall be made to the City Attorney, Mayor and City Council no less than quarterly.
9.0 Disclosures by City Contractors
1. 9.1 The City Attorney's Office shall work with the relevant agencies to prepare an ordinance to present to City Council that requires all bidders on City contracts to disclose in writing any agreement the contractor has with the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"), including specificity as to the federal agency within the department, the nature of work, and the terms of compensation. The ordinance shall require bidders to disclose all third-party data sharing. These requirements shall be incorporated into all new or amended contracts.
10.0 Data Protection
1. 10.1 No City agency shall share its databases or technology use agreements with DHS or its immigration enforcement partners without a subpoena, judicial warrant, court order, or except as required by law.
11.0 Scope
1. 11.1 Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed or applied to restrict or interfere with the execution of court orders, judicial warrants, or the enforcement of criminal law, nor as limiting the rights of any person or entity under local, state or federal law. Consistent with local, state and federal law, nothing in this Executive Order shall be interpreted to require or permit obstruction of federal immigration enforcement, or to violate the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause, Intergovernmental Immunity, or other applicable federal laws.