Gov. Jared Polis directed state employees to turn over information on sponsors of undocumented children to federal immigration authorities, despite protests that the order violated state laws limiting cooperation, according to a new lawsuit filed by a senior official.

Scott Moss, a director within the state Department of Labor and Employment, alleged in the suit filed Wednesday evening that Polis personally decided to comply with an administrative subpoena from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The subpoena was part of “investigative activities to locate unaccompanied alien children” and to ensure they were being cared for, according to the lawsuit.

But Moss, in a four-page memo protesting the legality of the request, alleged that the subpoena “is for purposes of finding minors to deport.”

Moss is now asking a Denver District Court judge to immediately block Polis’ order to furnish the information, which Moss was directed to complete by the end of the day Friday. In the suit, Moss’ attorneys allege that Moss and other employees are being asked to choose between illegally turning over information or risking termination for refusing Polis’ directive.

The subpoena, issued by ICE to the state in April and not signed by a judge, requested employment and family records for the sponsors of undocumented children separated from their parents, according to the lawsuit. Sponsors are typically family members, and the information requested would include birth dates and addresses. Moss was involved in handling the request as director of the labor department’s Division of Labor Standards and Statistics.

The suit says Polis’ office had decided by early May not to comply with the subpoena because of state law prohibiting certain information-sharing with federal authorities. But that stance shifted near the end of the month, the suit alleges, when Polis “personally decided” to reverse course and turn over the requested information to ICE.

A governor’s spokesman confirmed Thursday that the state intends to comply with the subpoena.

That decision came around the time that Polis signed a new law creating additional protections against sharing personal information with federal authorities.

Colorado law prohibits state and local employees from sharing personal identifying information with immigration authorities unless required by law or a court order. Polis signed that law in 2021, and Moss then drafted rules further enshrining the protections into practice.

Moss, the suit alleges, repeatedly told Polis’ office that complying with the subpoena would violate those laws. He reiterated those objections in the memo he wrote last month, in which he argued that complying with ICE’s request would renege on promises made by state employees — and by Polis — to protect immigrants’ information.

In a statement to The Denver Post, Polis spokesman Eric Maruyama wrote that Polis’ office had determined that the state should comply with the subpoena because it requested information related to “investigative activities.”

State law directs employees to cooperate with criminal investigations, even if that includes sharing personal information that’s otherwise protected.