Voces Unidas took its advocacy to new levels by bringing the voices of rural Latinos to the halls of Congress for the organization’s first-ever Capitol briefing of the 2023 Colorado Latino Policy Agenda.
Co-sponsored by Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, the briefing held at the U.S. Capitol building earlier today provided the offices of Colorado’s federal delegation with an overview of the main findings and policy preferences highlighted in the nonpartisan 2023 Colorado Latino Policy Agenda(CLPA) released earlier this month.
From economic to reproductive health issues, the report analyzes this important constituency’s legislative viewpoints at the regional and congressional district levels.
“With the release of our third annual policy agenda report in our third year as an organization, we are increasing capacity for our policy work at the federal level by taking it where it belongs – to the halls of Congress,” said Alex Sánchez, president and CEO of Voces Unidas. “As our work continues to expand, we intend to return to D.C. more often to engage deeper into policy conversations and ensure the rural Latino voices of Colorado are heard throughout the decision-making process.”
The Colorado Latino Agenda (CLA), co-led by Voces Unidas and Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR), has been an instrumental public research initiative dedicated to producing insightful and timely in-depth reports about Latinas and Latinos in Colorado. Representatives from Voces Unidas, COLOR, and BSP Research – which fielded the survey of 1,600 Latino registered voters from Colorado used to inform the report – were on hand to deliver the findings to members of Colorado’s congressional delegation and their staffs.
“We want to thank Senator Bennet, Senator Hickenlooper, and all the other members of Congress and their staff who attended what we expect to be the first of many such briefings and conversations about rural Latinos and our policy priorities,” Sánchez said. “We hope you take this information to heart and consider the diverse needs, priorities, and values of the Latino community as we explore solutions for the future together.”
Researchers conveyed key findings of the report and important takeaways for shaping federal policy, noting that economic challenges continue to dominate the list of concerns for Latino voters in Colorado, who rank addressing inflation and the rising cost of living as their top policy priorities for Congress and the President to address.
Gun violence and mass shootings also rank among the top three priorities for federal officials to address, and there is overwhelming agreement among Colorado’s Latino voters that the federal government should do more to support immigrants, especially long-term undocumented immigrant contributors “who have lived, worked and paid their taxes in the U.S. for most of their lives."
The 2023 CLPA showed strong support for federal legislative action to create a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and immigrant farmworkers. And if Congress refuses to act, most Latino voters in Colorado believe President Biden should be able to take direct action on immigration, with 70% of Latinos supporting worker permits to allow long-term undocumented immigrant contributors to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation.
