Two immigration bills faced very different outcomes in the Colorado House Judiciary Committee

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 in law enforcement is already dangerously low, the committee refused to require basic transparency and accountability. That is wrong. It leaves the door open for masked men to continue targeting immigrants in Colorado while families are left guessing who is stopping them, under what authority, and with what oversight. Public safety will suffer because fear and confusion do not build trust. They destroy it.

Voces Unidas supported HB26-1275 because the bill addressed a simple and urgent issue: people should know who is stopping them, detaining them, or operating in their neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. When officers conceal their identities, cover their faces, or operate without clear markings, fear spreads fast. Families do not know whether they are dealing with federal agents, local law enforcement, or someone impersonating an officer. That confusion is dangerous by design.

The data is clear. According to the nonpartisan Colorado Latino Policy Agenda reports, 84% of Latinos say local law enforcement does not always treat Latinos with dignity and respect. More than half (54%) do not trust that local police will not collaborate or share information with ICE. That is not just an immigration issue. It is a public safety issue. Public safety does not get stronger under those conditions. It gets weaker.

On HB26-1276, Voces Unidas testified in an amend position. We support the bill, but we made clear that it needed to be amended to close the county jail to ICE detention loophole. Colorado has already passed laws to limit how local governments and local law enforcement participate in civil immigration enforcement. The state has said local jails should not hold people for civil immigration enforcement unless there is a judicial warrant for a federal crime. The state has also said local law enforcement cannot collaborate with ICE to facilitate civil immigration enforcement unless there is a federal judicial warrant.

But in some rural counties, ICE is still getting the same result that ICE holds were meant to prevent. The form may look different, but the outcome is the same. Some rural jails still appear to allow people to be transferred into ICE custody while they remain in county custody. In practice, some local systems are doing what the ban on ICE holds was supposed to stop. They just do not call it that.

On the Western Slope, this has become painfully visible. In Garfield County, Voces Unidas has documented cases where people disappeared while still in county custody. Families were waiting for a loved one to be released, only to learn that person had been transferred into ICE custody from inside the jail system and never walked out. We have also seen this pattern in Mesa, Delta, and other counties. It may not be as visible in Denver, but it is happening in rural Colorado.

We thank Chairman Mabrey, the bill sponsors, and the committee members who engaged in good faith and helped improve HB26-1276 through the process.

To follow these bills and other priority legislation as they move through the Colorado General Assembly, visit our bill tracker.