Colorado’s immigration laws, explained

Good morning, Colorado.

I finally snagged tickets to see the Denver Art Museum’s Maurice Sendak exhibit last weekend – it was my second try, after tickets were sold out last time I visited.

Besides getting lost in the wondrous illustrations of his classic 1963 children’s book, “Where the Wild Things Are,” I loved learning about Sendak’s many other works throughout his prolific 60-year career that inspired TV shows, operas and movies. My favorite part was learning about his deep connection with his dogs, which he and his partner considered family, and his Sealyham terrier named Jennie who inspired a book that imagines animal consciousness to be as complex as any human’s.

The good news: The popular exhibit was extended through Feb. 23.

Slightly less whimsical but still illuminating, we’ve got a solid lineup of stories ready to read this morning. Let the wild rumpus begin!

Olivia Prentzel

Reporter

THE NEWS

IMMIGRATION

Should Colorado expect workplace raids or immigration agents visiting schools? Here are some answers about the law.

It’s hard to know how city ordinances, county rules, state laws and federal laws interact when it comes to immigration raids. Jennifer Brown and Olivia Prentzel break down some of the most common questions about immigration enforcement and explain what is allowed — and what isn’t — according to the patchwork of laws.

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WATER

Feds ask Colorado River official to resign, leaving another leadership gap during “existential time” for the river

Seven days after President Trump’s inauguration, Anne Castle was asked to leave her position representing the federal government in Colorado River policy planning. Shannon Mullane reports on why Castle saw the move coming — and what’s next for the stalled negotiations on the river’s future.

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POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

All the lawsuits Colorado has filed against the Trump administration so far

When Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joined with the attorneys general of 21 other states yesterday to sue the Trump administration for cutting research funding, it became the fourth lawsuit the state has joined in less than a month since the inauguration. John Ingold lays out the whole docket here.

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MORE NEWS

• Judge blocks Colorado Springs’ recreational marijuana repeal effort, calling it unconstitutional. Under the Colorado Constitution, ballot measures to prohibit recreational marijuana business may appear only on a general election ballot.
• Trump orders U.S. to stop production of pennies, billions of which are made in Denver. Pennies made in Denver and Philadelphia account for more than half the coins minted in 2024, but are they worth the effort?
• Senator opens inquiry into Denver-based SafeSport center hiring investigator charged with sex crimes. The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee is looking into how former police officer Jason Krasley landed an investigator’s job at the U.S. Center for SafeSport despite sex-crime allegations that littered his past, while also asking if the Denver center knew he had been accused of newer crimes when working there last year.

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE COLORADO REPORT

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

• King Soopers sues union for collaborating with out-of-state organizers. The lawsuit claims the union violated the National Labor Relations Act by forcing King Soopers to include employees from outside UFCW Local 7, the union representing the striking King Soopers employees, in contract negotiations. “It is particularly galling that King Soopers is making such false allegations given the Company’s own track record of being caught lying about illegal coordination agreements with its competitor Safeway/Albertsons during the 2022 ULP strike by UFCW Local 7 workers,” said Kim Cordova, President of UFCW Local 7, in a statement.
  — Colorado Public Radio
• Trump pardons disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich was convicted on corruption charges for trying to sell a Senate seat once held by President Obama and served eight years of his 14-year sentence in the Federal Correctional Institution in Englewood before having his sentence commuted by Trump during the final days of his first term.
  — KUNC
• Arvada to sell building it purchased for homeless services. The city purchased the 44,316-square-foot building for $6.35 million last summer, but after neighbors objected to proposed uses for the property including becoming a “navigation center” for Jefferson County homelessness services the city council voted unanimously to sell the property.
  — Denver Business Journal 🔑
• ”We have not committed fraud.” Many Medicaid recipients use services known as nonemergency medical transports to get to doctor’s appointments, pharmacies, physical therapy appointments and the like. But an ongoing, nationwide investigation into companies using the program to defraud Medicaid suspended the contract of MedRide, one of southern Colorado’s largest NEMTs, even though the state has since found they did not commit fraud.
  — KKTV

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• State legislators need to take another look at the Colorado AI Act to make sure it doesn’t harm local startups. As written, the bill passed last year could hurt innovative startups like ours that strive to use artificial intelligence to seek good outcomes.
  — Jeremy Becker, co-founder of Denver-based Cloverleaf AI

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

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SunLit

REVIEW

In “Louise and Vincent,” a conflicted narrator prepares to share her story

Louise Renoux voices the ultimate literary disclaimer, admitting to her interviewer at the beginning of “Louise and Vincent” that she can’t really back up her story. But it’s the perfect launch point for Diane Byington’s historical novel looking at famed artist Vincent van Gogh through different eyes that see his death — largely believed to be suicide — in a very different way. And it paints both van Gogh and his innkeeper/lover in profoundly human terms.

READ AN EXCERPT

• Interview with the author. As an amateur painter herself, with a style that reflects her fascination with van Gogh, Byington tells us she learned more about painting during her research of the famous artist than she imagined. But she also found him an elusive personality to capture in her book.
• Listen to a podcast with Diane Byington.

Section by Kevin Simpson | Writer

It’s 11 degrees and snowing here in Colorado Springs. Thanks for joining us and stay warm!

— Olivia & the whole staff of The Sun

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