On consecutive broadcasts -- August 21 and 22 -- 630 KHOW-AM host Peter Boyles repeated his unsubstantiated claim that Denver is a so-called “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants. As Colorado Media Matters has noted repeatedly, Denver is not a sanctuary city, according to sources including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and The Congressional Research Service (CRS).

Discussing the recent slayings of three college students in Newark, New Jersey, in which two of the suspects reportedly are illegal immigrants, Boyles on his August 21 show suggested Newark is a sanctuary city before stating, “Denver's a sanctuary city. ... It has the same policies as Newark.” Boyles added, "[I]t's not the fault of the cops ... It's the Hickenlooper, Webb, the rest of these guys. They're the guys doing it ... it's the Ritters. It's these guys. They're the guys that do it."

The following day, during a discussion with Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) Media Director Ira Mehlman, Boyles asserted, “Denver is the duck analogy: flies, quacks, does the whole thing, but won't -- these guys will never say it's a duck. Denver is a sanctuary city.” After Boyles asked Mehlman, “How do you best define sanctuary cities? And clearly Newark was one of them,” Mehlman answered, "[W]hether they openly declare themselves to be a sanctuary city, or they ... just are in fact a sanctuary city, is one where local police are instructed not to look into somebody's immigration status."

Contrary to Boyles' claim that “Denver is a sanctuary city,” a June 18 Rocky Mountain News article reported that, in compliance with a 2006 law “requir[ing] all cities and counties to report any suspected illegal immigrants arrested or cited for crimes” to ICE, Denver reported 1,351 suspected illegal immigrants from June through December of 2006. Of those, only 74 were not jailed. Moreover, a June 11, 2006, Rocky Mountain News article reported that while some local law enforcement officials in Colorado fail to turn in immigrants, “it has nothing to do with any sanctuary policy.” The article also reported that ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok said he knows of “no Colorado city that has a policy against calling ICE.”

Additionally, an August 2006 CRS report -- “Enforcing Immigration Law: The Role of State and Local Law Enforcement” -- does not include either Denver or Newark on its list of "[c]ities and counties currently that have sanctuary policies." According to the report, “Localities, and in some cases individual police departments, in such areas that are considered 'sanctuary cities,' have utilized various mechanisms to ensure that unauthorized aliens who may be present in their jurisdiction illegally are not turned in to federal authorities.” The accompanying footnote reads:

Cities and counties currently that have sanctuary policies are; Anchorage, AK, Fairbanks, AK, Chandler, AZ, Fresno, CA, Los Angeles, CA, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA, Sonoma County, CA, Evanston, IL, Cicero, IL, Cambridge, MA, Orleans, MA, Portland, ME, Baltimore, MD, Takoma Park, MD, Ann Arbor, MI, Detroit, MI, Minneapolis, MN, Durham, NC, Albuquerque, NM, Aztec, NM, Rio Arriba, County, NM, Sante Fe, NM, New York, NY, Ashland, OR, Gaston, OR, Marion County, OR, Austin, TX, Houston, TX, Katy, TX, Seattle, WA, and Madison, WI.

From the August 21 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Peter Boyles Show:

BOYLES: There are turns; there are changes. People are incrementally -- the Newark murder's another example, the Mexican truck deals, the, you -- the defeat of “Scamnesty One,” “Scamnesty Two.” There is an awakening. The fact that people are actually now talking in mainstream press asking whether or not sanctuary cities exist. Denver's a sanc --

[Caller laughs]

BOYLES: Den -- Den -- Listen, [caller], don't kid yourself. Denver's a sanctuary city.

CALLER: Oh, hell yes.

BOYLES: It has the same policies as Newark.

CALLER: Yep.

BOYLES: I mean, there's guys walkin' around that been kicked out of -- I mean, Tony Kovaleski at Channel 7, they did it. They showed it to you. We watched again and again and again. We can cite these guys who were kicked loose. And it's not the fault of the cops. Cops aren't, cops aren't doing that.

CALLER: That's right.

BOYLES: It's the Hickenlooper, Webb, the rest of these guys. They're the guys doing it. It's the, it's the Ritters. It's these guys. They're the guys that do it. And so the cops, the cops have the same -- I saw a friend of mine, young guy, he's a cop, and he's in a major municipality here -- I won't say where. He was, he [unintelligible] had to pick, clean up a wreck on Saturday night right out by a well-known spot. He says the guy's totally illegal, smashes into a guy, and then gets out of the car and starts pounding on his chest that he -- tellin' the cops that he's an Inca warrior. Now, this is a friend of mine, a young police officer, good kid. And he says, and the guy's beatin' on his chest, he's dead drunk, and he smacks these -- no insurance, no license, no nothing. But he's screaming, “Inca warrior.” Beatin' his chest saying, “Inca warrior.” Beatin' his chest saying, “Inca warrior.” Tellin' the cops, dead drunk in the -- but he's an Inca warrior after he hit these U.S. citizens, who, who, by the way, happened to be African-Americans, the people that got struck. And, and I'm thinking to myself, “Is somebody going to get angry about this?” The guy's beating his chest, he's all inked up, tattooed up -- he's a gangster -- and screaming, “Inca warrior. I'm an Inca warrior,” poundin' his chest.

From the August 22 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Peter Boyles Show:

BOYLES: How would one judge, if we were gonna build a series of variables to produce a model of what sanctuary cities are? There are cities and two states, I believe. Maine and Oregon have proclaimed themselves sanctuary states. Some cities have done so. Denver is the duck analogy: flies, quacks, does the whole thing, but won't -- these guys will never say it's a duck. Denver is a sanctuary city. How do you best define sanctuary cities? And clearly Newark was one of them.

MEHLMAN: Yeah, I, I mean, a sanctuary city, whether they openly declare themselves to be a sanctuary city, or they, they just are in fact a sanctuary city is one where local police are instructed not to look into somebody's immigration status. And, you know, very often a, a policeman in the course of doing his or her duty will stop somebody and have strong reason to believe that the person's in the country illegally. They don't have any identification, don't speak any English, can't answer some basic questions. And, you know, any logical person would say, “Hey, you know, this is probably an illegal alien. Maybe I ought to investigate further.”

BOYLES: Mm-hmm.

MEHLMAN: “Maybe I ought to pick up the phone and call the feds.” But you have these cities that have either specifically or implicitly instructed police officers, other employees not to pursue this any further; in fact, they just them, let the person go. And --

BOYLES: Sure. And that's Denver.

MEHLMAN: Yeah.