WASHINGTON (TNND) — Colorado’s sanctuary policies are drawing fresh scrutiny from a trio of Republican members of Congress who are demanding records and answers from officials in Denver and Boulder.

In a series of six letters sent this week, the lawmakers asked law enforcement agencies and district attorneys in both cities to turn over related materials, including communications with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and internal records tied to local immigration policies.

In a press release announcing the requests, the lawmakers wrote that Denver and Boulder sanctuary policies “prioritize criminal and illegal aliens over American citizens and threaten public safety.”

Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., told The National News Desk in an exclusive interview that Colorado’s sanctuary approach is contributing to broader public safety problems.

Colorado has only 2% of the nation’s population but 10% of the human trafficking in the nation happens in Colorado and so much of this ties back to the fact that Colorado and Denver are sanctuayr jurisdictions that do everything they can to erect barriers between state and local law enforcment being able to coordinate with their federal counterparts,” Evans said.

Evans also pointed to examples he said were raised in the letter to the Denver sheriff, including people he said are still at large in the community and wanted by ICE for crimes such as child abuse, dealing drugs and assault with a weapon.

“The reason they’re back out in the community is that the Denver Sheriff could not and would not honor a detainer from ICE to hold these people until ICE could go pick them up,” Evans said.

The Denver sheriff pushed back, writing in part, “We look forward to defending the policies, practices and things that we’re doing in Denver based on the laws that we follow every single day and protecting the citizens of the city and county of Denver and Americans in general.”

According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, 17 states and Washington, D.C., have statewide sanctuary policies that shield criminal aliens, including Colorado, California, New York and Illinois.