Days after hundreds of Coloradans held an antiICE protest at the state Capitol lawmakers publicly unveiled a package of legislation Monday intended to better regulate federal immigration authorities including by emphasizing local polices ability to arrest agents who commit crimes Today in this very building we as legislators are joining you with solutions that can help protect Coloradans strengthen our constitutional rights and hold firm against the unlawful attacks by an unlawful agency called ICE Rep Lorena Garcia an Adams County Democrat said during a rally outside the Capitol on Monday The bills have been shaped by the first year of President Donald Trumps effort to mass deport immigrants without legal status and they come this month amid a national backlash to Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Minneapolis where two people have been shot and killed by federal agents Both of those killed Renée Good and Alex Pretti had family ties to Colorado and the package that lawmakers will bring this session includes provisions related to suing and arresting fedeal immigration agents who violate peoples constitutional rights or commit crimes Only one of the three bills in the package has been introduced That measure Senate Bill 5 would allow Coloradans to file lawsuits against federal authorities who violate a persons constitutional rights during civil immigration enforcement activities Lawmakers began debating the proposal in its first hearing Monday afternoon and sponsor Sen Julie Gonzales listed highprofile ICE altercations in the state including the October arrest of a Durango father and his two children and a related incident in which an ICE agent threw a protesters phone before shoving her to the ground The bill tries to close what the New York Times called an odd gap in federal law that generally allows lawsuits against state and local officials but not against federal ones Congress has not enacted legislation allowing lawsuits against federal officials who allegedly violate the Constitution The US Supreme Court created a pathway in 1971 but has since backed off punting the question back to Congress Other states have already passed similar laws and more have weighed them in the wake of Trumps immigration crackdown Illinois passed a similar measure late last year Sometimes the federal government will misbehave Yale law professor Akhil Reed Amar told the Times and you cant count on Congress always to rein the federal government in Before the hearing began Monday dozens of supporters legislators advocates and members of the immigrant community lined the stairs outside of the legislature Monday an hour after the state Senates Democratic majority passed a resolution calling for reforms to ICE and defending the states immigrant community Supporters held signs praising immigrants cheered the coming package of legislation and briefly chanted abolish ICE Two of the lawmakers at the rally Rep Yara Zokaie and Sen Iman Jodeh said they were children of immigrants To Coloradans I want to say that the pain we feel is real and despite how hard it is to keep feeling this pain every day we must keep feeling it Zokaie said Because letting any part of this ever feel normal is the most dangerous thing The other two bills are expected in midtolate February One bill would underscore that local law enforcement can arrest federal agents who break state law while an investigation takes place and it would block people who once worked for ICE from becoming certified law enforcement officers in Colorado The measure also would require state law enforcement officers to clearly identify themselves and it would prevent them from wearing masks though the law wouldnt apply to federal agents The bill originally focused on masking and identification Zokaie a Fort Collins Democrat cosponsoring that measure said the proposal has since been expanded to include the arrest and certification provisions and to be responsive to what were seeing around the country Colorado law already allows for the arrest of federal agents breaking the law she said but the bill will emphasize that option to local law enforcement She accused the Trump administration of being a fascist federal government that is determined on enacting a policy of racism and cruelty The third bill would further tighten the states limitations on local officials sharing information with federal immigration authorities Democratic lawmakers expanded that legislation last year and plan to do so again this year The new legislation would expand oversight of ICE detention centers more of which are expected to open in the state hold specific agencies accountable when local law enforcement officials break state law to share information with ICE and require additional transparency when the state receives subpoenas from immigration authorities Specifically the bill would require the state to inform people when ICE has requested their information through a subpoena said Garcia and Rep Elizabeth Velasco who are sponsoring the bill That became an issue last year when Gov Jared Polis attempted to comply with an ICE subpoena and his lawyers argued that a nonprofit law firm couldnt sue on behalf of immigrants whose information was being sought I know you guys are doing amazing work Ousman Ba from the Aurora nonprofit African Leadership Group said at the rally But we gotta do more because Colorado theyre coming here next Lawmakers were set to hear public testimony on SB 5 for much of the afternoon Monday Should the bill pass the Senate Judiciary Committee it would need an additional committee vote before moving to the Senate floor The New York Times contributed to this report Stay uptodate with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot