Listen:
-
play_arrow
MorningMagazine_2025-05-07 Gabrielle Mendoza
Deportation Ban Extended
A federal judge in Denver has extended a ban on the deportation of Venezuelan individuals detained in Colorado for alleged gang membership.
U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney extended the ban yesterday. It applies to immigrants targeted by the Trump administration under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which allows the federal government to deport people in times of war or invasion.
Trump invoked the Act in March, alleging that the gang Tren de Aragua has invaded the United States.
The extended ban replaces one Judge Sweeney signed last month, which was about to expire. Now, immigration officials are blocked from using the act to deport people in Colorado, until the case reaches a final judgment. Those officials also can no longer transfer suspected gang members out of Aurora and to other immigration facilities across the country.
The latest order does not ban the deportation of immigrants for reasons outside of those mentioned, and does not bar immigration authorities from arresting alleged gang members and holding them in detention.
The ACLU of Colorado said yesterday’s ruling affirms that deporting and disappearing people without due process of law is cruel, unconscionable, and unlawful.
Legislative Session Ending
Today is the final day of the 2025 Colorado Legislative session, and lawmakers are still finalizing several bills.
Senate Bill 1312 received final approval in the state Senate yesterday, but still needs another vote in the House on amendments the Senate made.
The measure would increase protections for trans people in Colorado. The Denver Post says lawmakers debated it late into the night on Monday, largely because of fierce opposition from Republicans. It finally passed on a 20-14 vote yesterday, with two Democrats voting no.
If it becomes law, 1312 would make it discriminatory to intentionally not refer to a trans person by their chosen name, or to disrespect their gender identity in school and workplace settings. The Post says the bill would also make it easier for trans people to change their names on legal documents.
In other measures yesterday, lawmakers fully passed Senate Bill 5, a pro-union bill that removes a provision of existing Colorado labor law. But it may end up vetoed by the governor.
The provision that SB-5 removes requires union workers to pass a second election after an initial vote to form a union. The second election calls for a higher, 75 percent yes vote before the workers can negotiate the parts of union contracts that speak to dues and fees.
Supporters say that the second election is unnecessary and anti-union. But business leaders opposed removing it, and so has Governor Jared Polis, who has signaled he might veto it if lawmakers pass it.
Governor Polis has also expressed concern over House Bill 1291, which would add new regulations to ride companies like Uber and Lyft. The measure is meant to help prevent sexual assaults. A final Senate vote on it is expected later today.
Trump Policies Impact Boulder Budget
Boulder’s budget staffers are preparing to present the 2026 financial forecast to city council tomorrow. President Donald Trump’s fiscal policies have shifted some of their priorities in comparison to years past.
According to a memo from city staff to council, “elevated uncertainty in federal policies and decision-making has impacted staff assumptions for the city’s revenue forecasting and budgeting due to heightened economic risk.”
They cited three big ticket external factors they’re keeping an eye on going into the next fiscal year: tariffs and potential rising inflation; federal funds that support existing projects, programs, and grants for the city; and tax policy changes that could drive up the prices for financing capital infrastructure.
Spurred by anxieties around nationwide economic uncertainty, staffs said that the 2026 budget will emphasize “limited enhancements for new, additive programs and services above existing program and service levels.” The city will use one-time revenues to support one-time investments.
The city council’s full discussion will take place tomorrow, virtually, at 6 p.m. It will be livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel, and on Channels 8 and 880 on Comcast in Boulder.
Trump Defends Tina Peters
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser says his office will continue to fight a legal challenge to the incarceration of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.
Peters is serving a nine-year prison sentence, following her conviction last summer on four felonies and three misdemeanors. A jury found her guilty of facilitating unauthorized access to voting equipment that, as county clerk, she was supposed to protect.
On Monday night, President Trump posted to social media saying that Peters is a political prisoner who is being unjustly held, and telling the U.S. Department of Justice to “take all necessary action to help secure [her] release.”
Earlier that day a U.S. Magistrate indicated he might send her case back to the state court, on the grounds that her attorneys may not have exhausted all of her potential legal remedies at that level.
The Colorado Sun says that Peters has insisted all along that she did nothing wrong.
State Attorney General Weiser, however, said that Peters is in prison now because of her own actions. He added that a grand jury indicted her and a trial jury convicted her for breaking Colorado’s criminal laws.
Banned Books
18 banned books were returned to shelves in Colorado’s Elizabeth School District last week, following a federal judge’s orders.
The books were removed by the school board nine months ago. The lawsuit over the books removal has yet to be resolved, but the books will return to shelves for the students to use in the meantime.
Some of the books that were removed included “Beloved” and “The Bluest Eye” written by Toni Morrison, as well as “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. The Circuit Court of Appeals endorsed Judge Charlotte Sweeney’s earlier order to return the books. Sweeney ordered the books be returned last Friday by noon, and the district had to fill out a court document certifying their compliance.
The banned books are primarily about LGBTQ+ people, people of color, or both. Last summer the conservative led Elbert County decided to pull the books for what they deemed to be “disgusting” and otherwise inappropriate content.
