Political Sheet

Colorado Legislature Wants Immigration Spotlight, Not Math

Watercolor of the Colorado State Capitol with a Northern Colorado plains backdrop and county road in the foreground
Press releases are cheap. Accountability costs something.
Written by Scott K. James

Denver lawmakers are pushing immigration resolutions and lawsuits against federal officers. Meanwhile, regular families want costs, results, and accountability.

The Denver Post says immigration is front-and-center at the Colorado Capitol, and boy do our lawmakers love nothing more than a spotlight and a press release. This week in Denver, the Senate passed a resolution supporting immigrants and “transparency” in federal immigration enforcement, and committees are teeing up more bills.

They are also taking up a bill to let people sue federal officers during immigration enforcement, talking about expanding the red flag law, and doing the usual budget and ethics committee churn. In other words: plenty of microphones, not enough math.

The Bullet Point Brief

  • The Senate passed a resolution supporting immigrants and transparency in federal immigration enforcement.
  • Lawmakers planned to unveil a slate of proposals billed as protecting immigrants’ rights.
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled a first hearing on Senate Bill 5 to allow lawsuits against federal officers tied to immigration enforcement.
  • Senate Bill 4 would expand who can file extreme risk protection orders to additional groups and institutions.
  • The Joint Budget Committee set public testimony on budget requests, and the House Ethics committee planned to discuss a complaint involving two state representatives.

My Bottom Line

Here is the Colorado Legislature doing what the Colorado Legislature does best: virtue signal to its donor base. It’s the easiest lift in government. You don’t have to fix anything, you just have to sound nice while the bill comes due somewhere else.

Meanwhile, normie Coloradans are trying to figure out how they can continue to afford to live here. Not how to “message” about problems. Not how to grandstand. How to pay rent, buy groceries, and keep the truck running.

Let’s not pretend a resolution is governance. It’s a mood ring with letterhead, and a committee wrote it. You can tell.

If you can’t control federal immigration policy, you can still pick a fight with it and call that progress.

Want to protect rights? Great. Do it with clear standards, real oversight, and a price tag attached, not by turning Colorado into a legal sandbox where taxpayers fund the drama and nobody owns the outcome.


Source: The Denver Post

About the author

Scott K. James

A 4th generation Northern Colorado native, Scott K. James is a veteran broadcaster, professional communicator, and principled leader. Widely recognized for his thoughtful, common-sense approach to addressing issues that affect families, businesses, and communities, Scott, his wife, Julie, and son, Jack, call Johnstown, Colorado, home. A former mayor of Johnstown, James is a staunch defender of the Constitution and the rule of law, the free market, and the power of the individual. Scott has delighted in a lifetime of public service and continues that service as a Weld County Commissioner representing District 2.