Colorado voters will decide in November if state police departments will be required to inform federal immigration officials when arrestees are illegal migrants.

Voters will be presented with a ballot measure this year that would change state law, which currently prevents police agencies from working with federal immigration officials.

The measure, Initiative 95, would require law enforcement in the state to notify federal immigration officers if a suspect is in the country illegally. It would also require police to inform federal officials if the local authorities can’t determine whether or not a suspect is illegal.

Police agencies would have 72 hours after charging a suspect to notify the Department of Homeland Security if the police cannot determine whether the suspect is lawfully present after making “a reasonable attempt” to determine the individual’s status.

This would be a major change from the state’s current practices. Right now, state law bars law enforcement from working with the feds. Officers can’t keep any suspect in custody based on an ICE detainer and cannot inform ICE about the status of suspects.

If Initiative 95 passes, it will result in a state constitutional amendment that will override lenient Democrat policies.

The title of the ballot is “Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution requiring law enforcement to notify the department of homeland security when a person is charged with either a violent crime or any crime if the person has a prior felony conviction if law enforcement cannot determine that the person is lawfully present in the United States?”

The ballot measure is being supported by the Advance Colorado Institute, a conservative nonprofit advocacy group.

“This really isn’t a controversial issue when you narrow in on violent criminals and repeat felons and saying it’s pretty common sense that no one wants them free on our streets,” Advance Colorado Executive Vice President Kristi Burton Brown said.

Brown also blasted Colorado as a “sanctuary state” and says the current laws are “out of touch with what the majority of people think.”

The group has also worked to get a second measure on the 2026 ballot, Initiative 85. This measure gives voters the opportunity to add harsher penalties for crimes involving fentanyl.

Initiative 85 would make the possession of any amount of fentanyl a felony, which would roll back the Democrat-led legislature’s softening of penalties passed in 2019. It would also mandate harsher penalties for the “distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, or sale” of the drug. It will also be on the ballot in November.

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