His faith, the Constitution and his constituents. In that order.

That’s what Gabe Evans plans to look at when he makes decisions as the representative for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District.

At a press conference on Monday, Evans addressed his victory over the Democratic incumbent, Yadira Caraveo, and talked about his plans for his first term in Congress.

In his speech, he listed the problems he saw taking over Colorado, focusing on things like drug overdoses and bank robberies.

“I saw those problems as a police officer. (I) couldn’t have the impact I wanted as a police officer, and that’s why I ran for and won my seat in the state House, and that’s why I’m now so incredibly honored by the trust and faith of that the voters of Colorado’s 8th Congressional District have instilled in me as their new elected representative,” Evans said. “In many ways, this was a tremendous victory for Colorado Republicans and for balance and dialogue in the state.”

Colorado’s House delegation will have an even split of four Republicans and four Democrats heading to DC next year.

Kiara DeMare/CPR News

The border and that of President-elect Donald Trump the promise of mass deportationswere a main topic of the press conference.

When asked if he supports mass deportation, Evans spoke of a three-pronged approach to dealing with the immigration system.

Step one: secure the border. Step Two: Find and remove any immigrants who commit crimes while in the United States.

“After we’ve met those priorities, then we can continue to have that conversation about what we’re doing with the millions of people who are in the United States illegally but who aren’t committing crimes and who aren’t really. causing massive problems in our society,” he said.

Evans said he is against deportation policies that separate families.

“Family is very important. This is the first important thing. It is the most important thing. And so for these situations, again, I’m not a big fan of separating families. I don’t think this is the right way to go down.” Evans said.

Looking forward to January, when he will be sworn in, Evans said he plans to work with local law enforcement and federal partners to allow them to work together on immigration arrests. even though state lawmakers have limited that kind of cooperation.

Evans said the priority arose from discussions with local leaders about what Congress could do to help public safety.

“One of the things that almost all of them brought up to me was that right now in Colorado, it’s illegal for state and local law enforcement to be able to coordinate with their federal counterparts to get violent criminals out of our community who are also present here illegally.”

Kiara DeMare/CPR News

A Colorado Law of 2019 blocks local jails from detaining an inmate for any additional time at the request of immigration authorities. It also prohibits local police and sheriffs from arresting people solely for immigration violations and prevents probation officers from providing their clients’ personal information to immigration authorities.

Evans also said affordable housing is the most important thing to him.

“We also need to focus on the cost of living and make sure we protect and fix our economy so people can afford to live again,” Evans said.

Hart Van Denburg/CPR News

He is the second representative for Colorado’s newest district and its first Republican.

Evans announced Tyler Moore as his chief of staff and plans to announce the rest of his staff in the coming weeks.

A veteran and former police officer, Evans said his service taught him the importance of order when looking at how to approach problems.

“In the military, if everything is a priority, nothing is a priority and nothing happens. Same thing in law enforcement,” Evans said. And he said that’s the approach he plans to take now in Congress as well.