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Worried Families Seek Answers About Immigration Policies

DENVER (CBS4)- Worried families packed North High School in Denver on Thursday night, looking for answers about local immigration policies and whether the new rules from the White House will affect them.

Many Latino families are concerned that families will be broken up and were seeking reassurance that in Denver, they would be safe.

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The meeting at North High School on Thursday (credit: CBS)

City officials at the meeting said people who live in Denver should not expect the city to help with deportations despite President Donald Trump's Executive Order to target so-called Sanctuary Cities.

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(credit: CBS)

Trump has threatened to cut federal funds from cities that refuse to allocate local resources to help federal immigration agents. The Denver City Attorney's Office calls that extortion and illegal.

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(credit: CBS)

"We are not a city that requires its officers to act like immigration officials because we don't want our people to be afraid to report crime," said City Councilman Paul Lopez.

Lopez believes the president's order makes the community less safe which drives undocumented residents into the shadows and creates an even deeper divide with law enforcement.

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(credit: CBS)

"Whether you are undocumented or not, it's a threat to our rights, it's a threat to our Constitution," said Lopez.

Cities like San Francisco have planned to file a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over the Sanctuary City designation.

Denver's City Attorney's Office may be considering similar action.

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President Donald Trump (credit: CBS)

"We are ready to stand and fight. And by that, I mean it could be a lawsuit, it could be a lot of different things and we are looking at all of our options," said Denver Deputy City Attorney Cristal DeHerrera.

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(credit: CBS)
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