A Colorado sheriff’s deputy is facing a $50,000 lawsuit from the state’s Democratic Attorney General—because he shared immigration information with federal authorities. Deputy Alexander Zwinck, part of a federally funded drug task force in Mesa County, made a routine traffic stop for tailgating. What followed has ignited national outrage.

The driver he pulled over was a Brazilian national with an expired visa. As any officer might do, Zwinck notified Homeland Security agents—something his unit is designed to facilitate. But instead of being thanked for upholding the law, he’s now being sued by Attorney General Phil Weiser, who claims the deputy violated Colorado’s sanctuary laws.

To critics, it’s a dangerous move driven not by justice but by politics.

Zwinck’s task force is part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program—a federal initiative created specifically to coordinate law enforcement across federal, state, and local levels. It’s not some rogue outfit. Yet Weiser claims the deputy crossed a line by alerting federal immigration authorities about a non-citizen breaking federal law.

There was no brutality. No profiling. No abuse. Just standard law enforcement—until Weiser stepped in.

Chris Nelson, a senior investigator with Judicial Watch and former federal agent, blasted the lawsuit as “a cynical, calculated betrayal” of police. He warns it will have a chilling effect on law enforcement across the state. Deputies now face a choice: uphold federal law and risk personal ruin, or stand down and let criminals walk free.

Weiser, many suspect, has bigger ambitions. The lawsuit comes as he ramps up a campaign for governor, signaling he’s eager to curry favor with the progressive base. And what better way than to paint ICE cooperation as an assault on civil rights?

But Weiser’s political posturing could come at a steep price. Colorado is already grappling with rising crime, fentanyl overdoses, and faltering public trust in law enforcement. Undermining local cops for doing their job may only worsen the crisis. Deputies throughout the state are now left to wonder whether doing what’s legal could get them sued by their own state government.

The AG’s office argues that Colorado law prohibits state officials from acting as immigration enforcers. But Zwinck wasn’t acting on behalf of ICE—he was participating in a federally funded, cross-agency task force meant to do exactly what he did: share intel across departments.

Weiser’s critics say the lawsuit is a gross misreading of the law, intended to scare law enforcement into silence. If it succeeds, they warn, it sets a precedent that could all but end local cooperation with federal immigration efforts—even when public safety is at stake.

Meanwhile, the driver—whose illegal immigration status prompted the lawsuit in the first place—remains a footnote. In Phil Weiser’s Colorado, it seems the badge, not the broken law, is the problem.