The 2026 legislative session left a bitter taste among those of us who spent 120 days with lawmakers under the gold dome advocating for policies to improve the lives of working folks. For Latino advocacy organizations like mine, Voces Unidas Action Fund, the session was largely defined by missed opportunities, watered-down protections and a profound failure of political courage at the highest levels of state leadership. Since 2021, Voces Unidas has graded the votes of all 100

Colorado’s 2026 primary election has concluded, and voters have chosen their nominees for local, legislative, statewide and congressional races. From county commissioner to sheriff, from the state House and Senate to governor and Congress, each political party had a ballot where voters could decide who should receive the party’s official nomination before the November general election. Voces Unidas Action Fund, as we have since 2021, endorsed and engaged in several competitiv

Dark money is trying to shape the June 30 Democratic primary for Colorado House District 13. Voters should ask what that money is trying to hide. Outside money is already moving to help Chris Floyd. Colorado Mountain Progressives, an independent expenditure committee with no ties to any existing local nonprofit, is supporting Floyd in the Democratic primary. Despite its name, it primarily supports big-business-friendly Democrats in primary races. Reporting shows the group rec

Voces Unidas Action Fund (Voces Unidas) released its 2026 Legislative Scorecard today, recognizing lawmakers who stood with rural Latino communities and exposing those who failed to meet the moment during a legislative session defined by weakened bills, missed opportunities, and too many excuses. Since 2021, Voces Unidas has published a scorecard tracking the votes and recording the positions of all state lawmakers, with an emphasis on the eight state house representatives

The 2026 Colorado Legislative Session ended on May 13. For Latino communities, it was a session defined by missed opportunities, weakened bills, and political decisions that fell short of what families needed. Voces Unidas Action Fund was deeply engaged this session, focused on worker protections, immigrant protections and law enforcement accountability, housing stability, mobile home park protections, climate resilience, and environmental justice. These priorities came direc

When she got a call from her husband, less than an hour after he left home for work, he told her he had been detained by ICE. She didn’t believe him. “I thought he was joking with me,” the wife said. “I told him to stop lying.” It was later that morning, after a trusted friend had checked the area and accompanied her to pick up his car a few blocks from their Rifle home, that it finally hit her. “I felt like he had died,” she said. “To see his truck and all his things abando

New public data from ICE offers a look at the scope of enforcement efforts in Colorado, including the Western Slope. While not perfect, this data provides our best available insight into the impact of these operations. The data comes from the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley School of Law, which obtained internal ICE records through public records litigation against the federal government. For the Western Slope, the data shows that at least 541 people with a connectio

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.