Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Immigration Policy

Travel Disruptions Spur Senate To Pass Partial DHS Funding After Weeks Of Gridlock
NBC News, Approved, National

Travel Disruptions Spur Senate To Pass Partial DHS Funding After Weeks Of Gridlock

By Owen Hayes, Brennan Leach, Sahil Kapur and Lauren Zola | NBC News The measure, passed unanimously early Friday after a marathon session, still needs to get through the Republican-led House before it can get to Trump's desk. WASHINGTON — The Senate agreed unanimously early Friday to fund the Department of Homeland Security, but without funding for immigration enforcement and deportation operations. Senators approved the package at 2:20 a.m. by voice vote following a marathon session. The 42-day funding lapse has seen them go without pay, leading many to call out of work and causing long lines at airports. While the measure still needs to pass the House, the Senate vote paves the way to allow airports to fully function again. The legislation would...
Jeffries Faces Scrutiny Over Shift On DHS Funding Stance
Fox News, Approved, National

Jeffries Faces Scrutiny Over Shift On DHS Funding Stance

By Adam Pack | Fox News Jeffries pushed Republicans to pass a clean DHS bill in 2015, warning failure to act would be 'legislative malpractice' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., once said that failing to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was "legislative malpractice" — a position he is now rejecting in the current funding standoff with Republicans. "We are here today to do a single job, and that should be to fund fully the Department of Homeland Security," Jeffries said during a 2015 speech on the House floor.  Jeffries, near the start of his congressional career, urged the Republican-controlled House to pass a "clean" DHS bill that year when the department was on the brink of a partial government shutdown. ...
The Democrats who funded Colorado’s 611% Medicaid overrun are running for Congress
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The Democrats who funded Colorado’s 611% Medicaid overrun are running for Congress

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado is staring down a $1 billion budget hole. Disabled kids are losing healthcare. Dental benefits are getting capped at $750 a year. Two Democrats who helped create and fund Cover All Coloradans are now asking voters to send them to Congress. Shannon Bird stepped away from the statehouse to run full-time. That sets up a primary between Bird and Rep. Manny Rutinel in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, with Republican incumbent Gabe Evans waiting in November. It started with HB22-1289 in 2022, opening Medicaid-style coverage to children and pregnant women who otherwise met eligibility but didn’t qualify because of their immigration status. Bird voted yes. The early estimate was $14.7 million for the fiscal year, tied to an expe...
Selective scrutiny: Are Colorado journalists choosing who gets held accountable?
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Selective scrutiny: Are Colorado journalists choosing who gets held accountable?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Complete Colorado In a recent LinkedIn post, local Colorado media mascot animal Kyle Clark proclaimed, “Journalists just repeating what the powerful say isn’t news. And it’s not Next [Clark’s news magazine Next on 9News]. Next holds power to account, offering context and clarity that cut through spin and misinformation. It’s time for truth.” Not too long after putting on his emphatic face and making his bold statement, Clark recorded a Next segment where I think it’s reasonable to say he didn’t quite hit his own mark.  In the segment, Clark amplified a piece written by Logan Davis of the Colorado Times Recorder (CTR) entitled  “EXCLUSIVE: Secret ICE Detention Facilities Exist Around Colorado, Data Shows.”  The N...
American Citizen Now Leads Violent Mexican Cartel As Court Reviews Birthright Policy
Just The News, Approved, National

American Citizen Now Leads Violent Mexican Cartel As Court Reviews Birthright Policy

By Steven Richards | Just the News A California-born U.S. citizen whose mother is a Mexican national and is reportedly part of a drug and money laundering cartel herself, has now taken the helm of Mexico’s most dangerous cartel as the Supreme Court is set to consider a Trump administration challenge to the very birthright policy that granted him that citizenship.  Multiple reports indicate that the 41-year-old Juan Carlos Valencia González, a dual U.S. and Mexican citizen, took charge of the notorious "Jalisco New Generation" cartel (CJNG) in the aftermath of a Mexican special forces raid that took out the cartel’s former boss, El Mencho, last month. The raid was the most direct action Mexican authorities have taken against the cartels in coordination with the United S...
US Citizenship Loophole Fuels Birth Tourism Surge From China In Pacific Territory
New York Post, Approved, National

US Citizenship Loophole Fuels Birth Tourism Surge From China In Pacific Territory

By Chadwick Moore | New York Post Pregnant Chinese women have turned a tropical paradise into a maternity ward — pumping out babies who automatically become US citizens daily. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a US territory northeast of Guam in the Pacific Ocean, has been flooded with so-called “birth tourists” since 2009 when then-president Barack Obama introduced a visa-waiver program for Chinese nationals. China-watchers estimate about 1,000 companies offer birth tourism to the Northern Mariana Islands, other US overseas territories and even the US mainland. They claim a gob-smacking 1.5 million American babies are being raised in China by Chinese parents who’ve participated in birth tourism. In a March 9 letter to three Trum...
Colorado’s EMS savings promise: Too soon to celebrate
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s EMS savings promise: Too soon to celebrate

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I thought the headline of the KUNC article below was quite provocative. The title is, in full, "Ambulance services would get funding boost while saving Colorado millions under new bill." Bit too certain, I thought. Not so much the first part, but the latter bit: "...while saving Colorado millions." First, to the bill. The KUNC article is linked first below, with the bill underneath it. Screenshots 1a and 1b are the summary of what the bill does from its fiscal note. Skipping a lot of detail the bill allows EMS workers to do more treatments "in place", where and when they are called out or encounter someone needing medical attention in lieu of scooping everyone up and taking them to the ...
Colorado House panel advances immigration bill after hours of testimony
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado House panel advances immigration bill after hours of testimony

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice After hours of testimony that moved between legal arguments, the House Judiciary committee advanced a sweeping immigration bill Tuesday. House Bill 26-1276 passed the committee on a 6–5 vote. The "Protect Safety of Individuals Who Are Immigrants" bill, sponsored by Reps. Elizabeth Velasco and Lorena García, focuses on how state and local entities interact with federal immigration enforcement through information sharing, task-force reporting, detention oversight and the use of public resources. Velasco told the committee the bill grew out of what sponsors saw as gaps in existing law. "This bill was written in response to issues…as well as growing concerns that we are seeing across Colorado and the nation," she said. That includ...
Democrats Sound Alarm Over “Secret” ICE Facilities Publicly Listed Online
Uncategorized, Approved, DENVER7, State

Democrats Sound Alarm Over “Secret” ICE Facilities Publicly Listed Online

By: Natalie Chuck | Denver7 Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen is joining the chorus of Democratic leaders demanding answers from ICE. DENVER — Several Democratic politicians in Colorado are sounding the alarm over what they call "secret" ICE facilities after an online news outlet published an article last week. But are they really a secret? On Wednesday, Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen took to multiple social media platforms, expressing her concerns over "secret ICE holding cells." In her posts, Rep. Pettersen attributed her claims to the Colorado Times Recorder, which posted an article saying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained people for weeks at a time in "secretive" facilities. The Recorder's article was written an...
If you don’t defend it, you don’t own it: DeGette’s open border gamble
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

If you don’t defend it, you don’t own it: DeGette’s open border gamble

By Tom Anthony | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The road to owning property resembles a superhighway to some and a Colorado jeep trail to others. To the Sioux it resembled a torn up mass of earth and buffalo chips; to the Comanche, four hooves and a mane. To me, who has come by it in fits, starts, dead ends, and reversals the road signs say: "Adverse possession," "Fence Out State," "Prescriptive Easement," "Permit Required," "Tax Lien Sale," and "Eminent Domain." In other words, nothing too simple about it. I see Congresswoman DeGette, married to a judge and who has held down the 1st Congressional seat in Colorado since 1997, now wants to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division of the federal government. In other words, dissolve the borders. T...