Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Immigration

Attorneys No Longer Required to Sign Immigration Certification in Colorado Courts
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Attorneys No Longer Required to Sign Immigration Certification in Colorado Courts

By Nico Brambila | Colorado Politics One year and 12 days. That’s how long a Colorado law requiring attorneys to certify they would not use court data for federal immigration enforcement remained on the books before lawmakers repealed it. Gov. Jared Polis signed the initial legislation, Senate Bill 25-276, on May 23, 2025. That legislation extended to the courts a law prohibiting disclosure of information for the purpose of assisting in federal immigration enforcement. The governor signed the modification to that law via House Bill 26-1276 on June 4. That modification exempted the Colorado courts’ e-filing system from the requirement that users certify they would not disclose information for the purpose of federal immigration enforcement. M...
Colorado non-citizen households used welfare at a far higher rate than the U.S.-born.
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado non-citizen households used welfare at a far higher rate than the U.S.-born.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Half of Colorado households headed by a non-citizen, regardless of legal status, either used a traditional welfare program or qualified for federal tax credits aimed at low-wage workers. That is the finding of a new national report the Center for Immigration Studies released June 11. It is built on five years of Census Bureau survey data, pooled to get state samples large enough to be meaningful. The numbers come at a moment when Colorado is still absorbing the fiscal fallout from its own immigrant health coverage program, one that was projected to cost $27 million and enrolled more than eight times as many people as the legislature anticipated. And they arrive just weeks after Colorado began implementing federal food-sta...
Crank Says Colorado Springs Needs Results Not Anti-Trump Politics From Democrats
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Crank Says Colorado Springs Needs Results Not Anti-Trump Politics From Democrats

By Vince Bzdek | Colorado Politics For U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, who’s unopposed in the Republican primary for the 5th Congressional District but the main target of both candidates in the lively Democratic primary, the big question in the midterms is not who will stand up to President Donald Trump best. “The question, and I think this will be one in this race, is, does this community just want somebody who’s anti-Trump to fight and push back on Trump? Or do they want somebody who, no matter who the president is, whether it’s Joe Biden or Donald Trump, is going to go try and work to represent this community and get the best things for this community that they can?” Crank has been criticized by the Democratic candidates Jessica Killin and Joe Reagan for not standing up to Tr...
Colorado Retreats From Anti-ICE Court Pledge After ‘Sanctuary Confederacy’ Criticism
Fox News, Approved, State

Colorado Retreats From Anti-ICE Court Pledge After ‘Sanctuary Confederacy’ Criticism

By Charles Creitz | Fox News Gov Jared Polis signed a bill creating a carveout after attorneys said the state was coopting them into sanctuary policies. Colorado has reversed a controversial requirement that attorneys using the state's court e-filing system certify they would not use court information to assist federal immigration enforcement efforts. The verification requirement was removed from state law last week after Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 26-1276, creating a carveout for attorneys seeking to use the filing system. Multiple attorneys spoke out in April after the state’s e-file system required them to certify they would not share such personal information with the federal government — a requirement Colorado ...
Colorado Quietly Repeals Anti-ICE Loyalty Pledge Imposed on Lawyers Following Constitutional Scrutiny
Just The News, Approved, State

Colorado Quietly Repeals Anti-ICE Loyalty Pledge Imposed on Lawyers Following Constitutional Scrutiny

By Greg Piper | Just the News Centennial State quietly eliminates anti-ICE loyalty oath it imposed on lawyers ahead of promised lawsuit. Justice Department still defending constitutionality of settlement gag orders even after SEC, CFTC disavow them. Colorado imposed a loyalty oath on lawyers as a condition of access to the state's court system, pledging they would not assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some federal agencies required defendants to accept gag orders as a condition of civil settlements, pledging they would not question the government's case, no matter how weak they thought it. These speech mandates, some going back more than 50 years, have come crashing down in recent weeks as The Centennial State opts against further cementing its reputation as ...
Aurora ICE Facility Operator Says Colorado Overstepped Authority With New ICE Inspection Law
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Aurora ICE Facility Operator Says Colorado Overstepped Authority With New ICE Inspection Law

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The private prison company that operates the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Aurora has filed a lawsuit against Colorado to stop the enforcement of a new law requiring additional health and safety inspections of immigration detention facilities. The lawsuit from Geo Group, filed Monday in Denver District Court, lists Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser as the plaintiff, along with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment executive director Jill Hunsaker Ryan, the department’s environmental health and sustainability director Jeff Lawrence, and Adams County Health Department executive director Kelly Weidenbach. Earlier this year, the Adams County Health Department conducted an on-site investigatio...
Senate Approves $70 Billion Immigration Enforcement Funding Package
NPR, Approved, National

Senate Approves $70 Billion Immigration Enforcement Funding Package

By Caitlyn Kim | NPR News This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org. The U.S. Senate passed an approximately $70 billion funding bill for federal immigration enforcement, without any reforms, early Friday morning, 52-47. Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper voted against the measure, while Sen. Michael Bennet missed the final passage vote and the preceding 18-hour marathon of back-to-back amendment votes known as a “vote-a-rama.” Instead, Bennet was back in Denver, where he hit the gubernatorial debate stage Thursday night for what he hopes will be his next job. A Bennet spokesperson noted that Bennet had returned to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and filed amendments to the reconciliation bill. “When it ...
Rep. Gabe Evans Presses DHS Chief on Sanctuary Policies and Colorado Public Safety
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Rep. Gabe Evans Presses DHS Chief on Sanctuary Policies and Colorado Public Safety

By Sherrie Peif | Complete Colorado WASHINGTON D.C. – Colorado’s 8th Congressional District Rep. Gabe Evans on Wednesday took an opportunity during House Homeland Security Committee hearings to question Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin over how his department handles issues of sanctuary cities, public safety, backlogs and constitutional protections during Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. Evans’ questions came just days after he joined House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio and GOP Rep. Tom McClintock in letters to Denver’s elected district attorney, chief of police, and sheriff demanding information on their offices’ compliance with local sanctuary policies that, according to Evans “prioritize criminal ...
Justice Department Targets Colorado Law Expanding U Visa Certifications
The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Justice Department Targets Colorado Law Expanding U Visa Certifications

By: Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette The U.S. Department of Justice has moved to challenge Colorado’s U-Visa law, arguing it conflicts with federal immigration rules by broadening who qualifies for law enforcement certifications used in visa applications. HB21-1060 was signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis in 2021. The law was designed to create uniformity and fairness for immigrant crime survivors. “Colorado victims have been subjected to inconsistent policies across the state, unfairly preventing them from applying for a U-Visa,” Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network said in a statement upon the measure passing both chambers. Eric Maruyama, a Polis spokesperson, could not be reached for comment before this story published. Congress ...
Sheriffs and Prosecutors Push Back Against Democrat Governors’ Leftist Agendas
Just The News, Approved, National

Sheriffs and Prosecutors Push Back Against Democrat Governors’ Leftist Agendas

By Nicholas Ballasy | Just the News In Maryland and Virginia, disputes over immigration enforcement and firearms restrictions exposed widening tensions between Democratic state leaders and local law enforcement officials. wo Democrat governors trying to advance progressive policies on immigration and gun control are facing pushback from local law enforcement, with sheriffs and prosecutors in Maryland and Virginia openly resisting portions of the states’ new agendas. In Maryland, a majority of the state’s elected sheriffs filed a federal lawsuit challenging the newly enacted Community Trust Act, a law backed by Democrat Gov. Wes Moore that limited cooperation between local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities.  The sheriffs argued t...