There must be a way for local law enforcement to work alongside federal officials to ensure that dangerous criminals in this country illegally aren’t able to roam the streets. But Attorney General Jeff Sessions seems intent on driving a greater wedge in the already divided relationship rather trying to heal the wound.

Sessions’ threat to subpoena Denver and other “sanctuary” cities for their policies and directives on handling those in custody without proper documentation is political grandstanding, a silly distraction from the real issue. There’s an easier way to obtain those policies than court action, as most cities will readily comply with such requests.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock called the threat what it is — a “destructive ploy” — and we are glad he held his ground.

Sessions should already know that Denver’s policy is to comply with Section 1373(a) of Title 8 of the U.S. Code, which requires the city to share information about the immigration status of any individual, and that, according to court rulings, jails cannot hold people otherwise eligible for release simply because immigration officials request it. We should all take comfort in knowing the federal government cannot demand we be detained without a court order. It’s a question of civil liberties.

Both counts are also a question of what is effective policy for individual communities. President Barack Obama put an end to the Secure Communities program, which encouraged law enforcement to share biometric data with federal officials on everyone in their custody to allow for detection of those here who were eligible for deportation. He replaced it with the Priority Enforcement Program, saying federal agencies should focus on deporting “felons, not families.”

But as several recent high-profile cases in Denver have shown, sometimes that program has allowed felons, once in Denver custody, to walk the streets and commit heinous crimes.

President Donald Trump reinstated Secure Communities policies, but the disconnect between those policies and constitutional protections remains. It’ll take far more than threats of stripping funding and subpoenas for readily available public information to solve that problem.

Colorado law enforcement have emphasized time and again that it hampers their ability to do police work if the undocumented population in their jurisdiction is too afraid of deportation to cooperate with their efforts. It’ll take cooperation and trust between federal immigration enforcement officials and local jurisdictions, and that’s something that clearly doesn’t exist now. Right or wrong, sanctuary cities don’t trust ICE to use sound judgment when considering whether to deport someone cooperating with local officials on an investigation, or worse, someone who was the victim of a crime. And Sessions, the head of our justice system, clearly doesn’t trust that local law enforcement agencies use sound judgment in notifying federal officials of dangerous individuals in need of deportation.

This silly division predates the Trump administration and must be stopped for the good of everyone.

Perhaps once Denver complies with the request and puts to bed conspiracy theory sentiments that our police and sheriffs are protecting criminals who are undocumented from deportation, we can all start focusing on a real solution to this problem.

To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.