This certainly was a “history in the making” kind of week with the second inauguration of President Donald Trump, and in the first 24 hours of new term, the political shift was impacting Colorado. Our state joined 17 other states in a lawsuit against an executive order to ban birthright citizenship. The Department of Justice called out Denver’s Mayor, who has been vocal about the President’s plans for mass deportation. And around 20 Coloradans are now living freely after receiving a Presidential Pardon for their involvement in the January 6th takeover of the U.S. Capitol.

Colorado & New Immigration Policies:

Birthright Citizenship: Colorado joined 17 other states on Tuesday in a lawsuit to block President Trump’s executive order to ban birthright citizenship, a decades-old policy that allows citizenship to children born in the US, irrespective of their parents’ legal status. On Thursday afternoon, a federal judge temporarily halted the executive order saying it’s “blatantly unconstitutional.”

• Conservative columnist and strategist Sage Naumann said, “Donald Trump could have come into office and said ‘look Denver… I want to go after criminals and you don’t like to cooperate with ICE, but let’s make a deal. You let me take the criminals. We can leave everyone else. We’re not trying to take everyone’s abuela out of their home and send them back to Mexico…that’s not the goal. The goal is to make our streets safer.’ He could have worked out a deal… but didn’t.”
• Political and media consultant Alton Dillard wondered what course this issue could take through the legal system: “If the Supreme Court reinterprets the amendment and says, no, that’s not what we meant by… birth, by being born in the United States, then it could become retroactive.”
• We got some additional, and personal, insight from Luige del Puerto, currently the editor for the Denver and Colorado Springs Gazette and Colorado Politics. Luige has reported on immigration issues for two decades. Luige left the Philippines when he was younger and became an American citizen with his wife 12 years ago. Their son was born in this country. “I think that the United States is the greatest country in the world. It is the most welcoming of immigrants,” Luige said, acknowledging though how the U.S.’ immigration policies have changed over the years. For example, in 1898, a son of Chinese immigrants was declared an American citizen and how in 1924, Native Americans were granted US citizenship yet in the 50’s there were questions as to whether the children of Mexican migrants who came to the US to help industries through the Bracero Program were eligible for citizenship.

DOJ watching Denver: The Insider panel also discussed how Denver is in the spotlight of the Department of Justice for its sanctuary city policies, and for Mayor Mike Johnston’s outspokenness in the past about the President’s plans for mass deportation.

• Westword Editor Patty Calhoun: “Most Americans believe that the border should be more secure, but what to do about the people who are here is really dividing people. The sanctuary city issue, where basically Mayor Mike Johnson and the Colorado Legislature back in 2019 said that local police don’t have to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions. We are going to be in the spotlight because of that… it is just going to be a really tough time.”

Other executive orders or plans that look to impact Colorado:

Alton Dillard:

• Keeping an eye on the administrations call to ‘drill, baby drill’ when Colorado energy production is already at a high point.
• Curious on the budgetary impacts at both the state and local level: “If they cut off the spigot at the federal level when it comes to funding, what’s going to be the downstream effect on pretty much every system, like education and public works.”

Sage Naumann:

• Noticing the shift in President Trump’s tone regarding Russia and how the Administration is now saying Russia is responsible for the war in Ukraine.
• Watching an opening for U.S. natural gas to play a bigger role in Europe, citing a report that said if European countries replace Russian natural gas with American natural gas, emissions would drop by 30% because the U.S. is more efficient in gas production.

Luige del Puerto:

• Questions what’s next for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs with the President saying the country will only acknowledge going forward two genders: male and female.
• “Programs at the federal level, at the state level, at the city level… any program that interacts with federal funding potentially could be cut if they’re promoting some sort of DEI approach to things,” Luige
• Imagines what this executive order may mean for the armed forces and collegiate sports.

Patty Calhoun:

• Concerned about President Trump’s negative view of Colorado’s election laws, suggesting that the state might become a target regarding voting rights and other-election related policies.
• Mentioned the 19 Coloradans who received Presidential pardons this week for their involvement in the January 6th takeover of the U.S. Capitol. “To have President Trump say they’re hostages and patriots at the same time that we’ve got the Gaza ceasefire and true hostages coming home… it was just appalling.”

Pregnant CO Rep. Brittany Pettersen forbidden to vote remotely:

Brittany Pettersen, who represents Colorado’s 7th District, is in her third term of her pregnancy so is no longer allowed, for health reasons, to fly back and forth to Washington D.C. to vote for measures facing the House of Representatives. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson refuses to let her vote remotely, despite requests from a bi-partisan group of lawmakers.

• Sage Naumann: “We have to remember that Mike Johnson has a three-seat majority in the House, which means for him it’s every single vote that matters and everything boils down to politics.”
• Alton Dillard said this move is hypocritical, pointing out that Speaker Johnson has voted proxy in the past. “This situation is similar to the Continental Congress of 1776, where only white guys in white wigs were in control, and that Congress needs to modernize and make protections for expectant mothers,” Alton

Colorado forensic scientist facing 102 felonies, accused of mishandling DNA tests in criminal cases

The Insider panel discussed the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s scandal over manipulated DNA evidence and the charges facing former top forensic expert Missy Wood, who turned herself into police this week.

• The fallout from this scandal reaches far beyond the affected cases. It’s a reminder of how vital it is to ensure the integrity of our justice system, not just for those seeking justice today but for the public’s trust in the system tomorrow.
• As Sage Naumann pointed out, “DNA evidence tends to be the gold standard… this calls into question the legitimacy of every investigation they’ve done.”
• Patty Calhoun: “At least twice, Missy Wood’s supervisors were warned of problems, and nothing happened. And then finally an intern whistleblower said there is something really drastically wrong there. That intern deserves an award. “