Today, the Colorado General Assembly took a historic step to protect the state’s workforce by passing House Bill 26-1272 or also known as Extreme Temperatures Worker Protections. The legislation establishes a critical first step toward keeping workers safe on the job by gathering evidence and prioritizing education on temperature-related injury prevention planning in the face of increasing extreme heat and cold events caused by climate change. While the original bill was scal

Voces Unidas Action Fund is proud to announce its endorsements for the 2026 primary election, supporting candidates we believe will advance the priorities of rural Latino communities across the Western Slope. These endorsements reflect not only issue alignment, but also trust, access and a demonstrated willingness to partner with rural Latino communities. “As an organization that cares deeply about rural Latinos on the Western Slope, we support leaders who show up, listen, an

He thought he hired an attorney. After Luis Armando Rivas was detained by ICE, he and his family made sacrifices to secure competent legal representation to fight his deportation in a very complex and biased immigration legal system. After considering several quotes from law firms, they landed on a local option, Hector Gonzalez with Connect Immigration, who was charging about half of what other attorneys were charging at the time. They signed a contract and started a monthly

For the first time in modern Colorado history, the state legislature proactively voted to take a right away from a specific group of workers. Yes, a rollback on a right that already existed. The workers are farmworkers. Overwhelmingly Latino. Overwhelmingly immigrant. The bill is Senate Bill 26-121. On April 16, 2026, the Colorado House passed SB26-121 by a vote of 33 to 32, with Speaker Julie McCluskie casting the deciding vote. The Senate had already passed it on March 25 b

Today will go down in history as the day Colorado lawmakers decided that farmworkers should work 56 hours before they earn overtime pay. It is a slap in the face to overworked and already underpaid immigrants who do the backbreaking work this country depends on, work most Americans no longer do. I do not have easy words to describe what many Latinos are feeling tonight. It is grief. It is anger. It is betrayal. People who have never had their community singled out by hostile

In places like the Western Slope, immigration arrests are quietly increasing, usually with little media attention. The expansion of license plate readers is helping. Automated License Plate Reader technology allows police agencies, cities and private companies to set up cameras and automatically track passing cars, logging every license plate in a database. These camera systems claim to help law enforcement identify stolen vehicles, but they can also show where someone has be

For many of us on Colorado’s Western Slope, the struggle for farmworker dignity is deeply personal. My father was a farmworker when he first moved to this country, working as an undocumented laborer in the orchards around Hotchkiss and Delta in the 1970s. He worked in the fields of California as well, where I was born, not very far from the birthplace of America’s farmworkers movement. So when I see Colorado’s state legislature advancing a bill that undermines the dignity of

Voces Unidas Action Fund is proud to endorse U.S. Senator Michael Bennet for governor of Colorado. Bennet earned our endorsement because of his consistent engagement with rural Latinos on the Western Slope. He shows up, he listens, and he partners with our communities. Over the past five years, he has met with Voces Unidas staff and rural Latino leaders more often than any other public official – in our communities, on park benches during COVID, and when we travel to Washingt

The Supreme Court heard arguments this week on whether a president can deny citizenship to children born in the United States based on their parents’ immigration status. The case centers on a Trump executive order that attempts to narrow who qualifies as American at birth. The Constitution is clear. The 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to people born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction. That has been settled law for more than a century. This challenge is

The mountains sell a story of clean air, fresh powder, luxury, and escape. Visitors come for the views, the skiing, the village lights, the Michelin-star meals, and the postcard version of Colorado. Ski resorts like Aspen, Snowmass, Vail, Breckenridge, Steamboat, Telluride, Winter Park, Copper Mountain, and others across Colorado all benefit from that image. What most visitors do not see are the workers holding it all together. The rooms do not clean themselves. The dishes d

On Tuesday, Voces Unidas testified before the Colorado House Judiciary Committee on two immigration bills, one day after 300 people came to the Capitol on Monday for Latino/a Advocacy Day to lobby lawmakers in support of those same measures. The two bills ended with the same vote count, but very different outcomes. HB26-1275 failed in committee on a 6-5 vote. HB26-1276 was amended and passed on a 6-5 vote. We are deeply disappointed that HB26-1275 failed. At a time when trust

More than 300 Coloradans concluded the 20th Annual Latino/a Advocacy Day on Monday with a rally at the State Capitol to urge lawmakers to pass legislation that will improve the lives of Latinas and Latinos throughout the state. “The 20th anniversary of Latino Advocacy Day marks two decades of transformative growth in Latino political power and the advancement of equitable policies in Colorado,” said Dusti Gurule, President and CEO of Colorado Organization for Latina Opportuni

Sunday at Latino Advocacy Day 2026 was about preparation, but it was also about political accountability. Participants gathered for town halls with Michael Bennet and Phil Weiser, along with advocacy training and lobby group planning ahead of Monday at the Capitol. It gave Latinos from across Colorado the chance to hear directly from the top two candidates running in the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Jared Polis and to press them on the issues shaping Latino communities.

The first day of Latino Advocacy Day brought more than 300 people together from across Colorado, including 100 youth, for the start of a three-day effort leading up to Monday’s formal day of action at the Capitol. Participants spent the day grounding themselves in the Colorado Latino Agenda and moving through issue briefings focused on housing justice, community safety, worker protections, environmental justice, and affordable healthcare. In the housing sessions, people dug i

You may have received a notice or letter earlier this year from your clinic or hospital, alerting you that some of your information is possibly being shared with ICE. We know these notices have caused anxiety in the immigrant community so here are some things you should know. First, the notice you received is not about something that is happening at your clinic or hospital or healthcare provider. It does not mean your clinic is collaborating with ICE. Instead, the notices ar

Today, Voces Unidas joined coalition partners, impacted workers, and lawmakers on the West Steps of the Colorado State Capitol to announce a new bill to protect workers from dangerous extreme heat and cold on the job. More than 20 impacted workers stood alongside advocates and legislative sponsors to mark the public start of this effort and to make clear that Colorado cannot keep treating extreme temperatures at work like they are normal. It was the start of a statewide push

In the Western Slope, you can feel it when someone disappears. A spouse doesn’t come home. A parent doesn’t show up for pickup. A coworker never makes it to work. And suddenly everyone has questions: can we still open for lunch, are we next, who can help, who knows what happened. People also talk about what they’re seeing on the road during their morning commute: masked, armed men in unmarked cars. Stops that don’t feel like real traffic stops. Windows broken. People dragged

In a mountain town, a snow day feels familiar. The snow stacks up fast, the roads turn into a hazard, and temperatures drop. Schools announce a late-start. Tourists sleep in. Employers tell office staff to work from home. In places like Aspen, Snowmass, Vail, and Breckenridge, the resort economy doesn’t pause—it just expects the town to be ready. Safety becomes a “shared decision”—for the people who get to stay inside. But for many Latino workers, a snow day starts before daw

Drive I-70 from Summit County over Vail Pass, through Eagle and Garfield counties, past Glenwood Springs and Rifle, and into Mesa County and Grand Junction. It feels like one continuous stretch of highway. But along that drive, different jurisdictions are using license plate reader cameras that track vehicles as they pass. And it’s not just towns along I-70. Across the Western Slope, communities are installing or debating these systems. Glenwood Springs operates license plate

Representative Elizabeth Velasco, the first Latina legislator from the Western Slope, was the subject of degrading emails circulated by senior Garfield County law enforcement officials using government accounts. She was called “POS” and “GARBAGE” by men with badges and guns. This is real harm. A three-foot artistic rendering of an absent candidate in the form of a piñata at a political event is not. At a recent candidate forum in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District — the