Sanctuary state Colorado added more protections for illegal immigrants days before Egyptian man carried out terror attack

Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed legislation expanding legal protections for illegal immigrants in his state roughly one week before an illegal immigrant allegedly carried out a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado. 

The law, signed on May 23, eliminated a requirement that illegal immigrants must sign an affidavit stating they plan to apply for or have already applied for legal status in order to access state benefits such as in-state college tuition, driver’s licenses, or state-issued identification. It also prohibited local law enforcement from trying to delay an illegal immigrant defendant’s release to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). State law previously allowed jails to hold these individuals for six hours.

The measure further broadened illegal immigrant defendants’ ability to petition a court to vacate guilty pleas for class 3 misdemeanors if they claim they were not adequately informed of the immigration consequences. Prior Colorado law only allowed this for class 1 and 2 misdemeanors.

Additionally, the law restricts state employees from sharing biometric data with outside entities, including ICE, unless presented with a federal judicial warrant. Public educational institutions and hospitals are also limited in their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Violations of the law by public facilities or employees could result in civil penalties of up to $50,000, per the Daily Caller.

Roughly a week after the bill became law, Mohamed Sabry Soliman allegedly launched an attack on a crowd of demonstrators in Colorado who were marching in support of the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Soliman is an Egyptian national who had obtained work authorization from the Biden administration after overstaying his visa. Witnesses say he shouted “Free Palestine” during the incident. The FBI said it is investigating the attack as a “targeted act of terrorism.”

The FBI’s Denver office added that Soliman told investigators he had been planning the attack for over a year and said he “wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead.”  The Department of Homeland Security also announced it is reviewing its ICE tip line in light of the incident, a report by the Daily Caller noted.