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