This week, we saw the ‘Sanctuary City Showdown’ with Denver Mayor Mike Johnston in the hot seat, defending the city’s immigration policies during a 6-hour Congressional hearing. And this week, we welcomed a new Insider to the show, Kristi Burton Brown, who says that hearing proved that Denver is indeed a sanctuary city. To that notion, Eric Sondermann suggested, Denver is a “welcoming city.” We had a deeper conversation beyond the semantics of the words at hand, and as Patty Calhoun said regarding this week’s Colorado Inside Out … this is a ‘fun one!’

THE BIG TOPIC: Denver’s Immigration Policies Under Scrutiny:
Westword Editor Patty Calhoun was the only one of the panelists to watch the entire Congressional hearing on Wednesday and she admits it was “a really long 6 hours.”

• Denver Post Columnist Krista Kafer agreed: “Six hours of wasted time… I was not impressed with the showboating that went on. The fact is, is that these members of Congress, just months ago, had in front of them a bill that would have tightened up the border… and made it easier to turn away people who are coming here as economic migrants. They had that in front of them. They chose not to act on it because it was right before an election. So, it’s hard to take them seriously.”
• Patty Calhoun did praise new CD3 Representative Jeff Hurd: “He came up with some really thoughtful questions and got Johnston to talk in a very sensible, interesting way about the city.”

A broader conversation grew over the handling of violent criminals who are caught in Colorado illegally, and specifically a recent case involving a known gang member, something that was brought up in the Congressional hearing.

• Patty Calhoun: “At the hearing, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio came up with Abraham Gonzales, someone who was released after almost a year in the Denver jail. ICE was given 90-minutes notice, and he was released in the parking lot. He managed to hit one ICE agent and bite one and he had to be tased.”
• Kristi Burton Brown discussed the situation further: “Not only did ICE request a 48-hour notice before this person was released so that they could go get them and then deport them… Denver responded by giving them a 90-minute prior email notification. What was also exposed is that the handoff happens in the parking lots. It does not happen in the jails where it should happen, where our officers will be safe, where the community is not at risk.”
• Colorado Politics Columnist Eric Sondermann finished the conversation this way: “I think Kristi raises a fair and interesting question… is it better to happen in a chase in a parking lot or is it better to happen in more of a controlled environment inside? I know that goes against a lot of progressive dogma that you can’t invite ICE into local facilities. But in my mind, is it at least a valid question?”

President Trump’s Address to Congress, and Local Reaction:
The Insiders offered differing perspectives on the effectiveness and target audience of President Trump’s address. Eric Sondermann argued the speech was “directed entirely at Trump’s base,” while Kristi Burton Brown countered by saying the President’s speech showed the “Democrats’ divergence from average Americans.”

• Kristi Burton Brown explained her view: “I think what Trump masterfully did is he exposed the Democrats. They don’t just have a messaging problem. They have a policy problem right now. And that’s something that they’re going to need to resolve if they do have a hope of taking back any power in 2026.”
• Krista Kafer built on that idea that leaders need to address issues immediately. “We see the market responding. We see protesters responding… ‘you know what, I don’t I want to make sure that my local park is taken care of. I want to make sure that there are enough people around to fight forest fires.’ Colorado could miss 1.5 billion a year to lose that much just from tariffs. We’ve got some very serious things on the horizon, and I don’t think that the leaders are listening.”
• Patty Calhoun commented on the length of the President’s address: “It took an hour before we got what I knew would come… Aurora, when he said it has been wrecked by Venezuelan gangs. Let’s be realistic, Denver does know there’s gang activity from a variety of gangs. I think they know probably exactly what percentage of those gangs are Venezuelan gangs. Aurora was late to the party and getting a grip on it, but they have it now. That city is not wrecked.”

Potential Closure of the Federal Department of Education:
Since Insider Kristi Burton Brown also holds a volunteer position on the Colorado State Board of Education, she was asked her thoughts on what federal cuts could mean for education in Colorado.

• Kristi Burton Brown responded: “This actually should be good news for Colorado. We’re a very local-focused state. We think our local districts should have more say over education than the state…. that Colorado should have more say than the federal government. Ending the bureaucracy at the Department of Education does not equal cutting funding. That’s what people are afraid of. Trump has never said that.”
• Eric Sondermann replied: “A lot of the funding flows through as block grants with the Department of Education being a middleman, it is at least an interesting conversation to have without everyone instinctively running to their corners, either pro or con.”

Department of Justice to Review Tina Peters Conviction:
Peters is the former Mesa County Clerk who is a few months into serving her 9-year prison sentence for breaching voting machines while looking for potential election irregularities. The panelists all agreed that Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers under state and local laws, and that the federal government should not intervene.

• Eric Sondermann argued that the DOJ’s involvement is an act of “retribution” by the Trump administration and a doubling down on the “big lie” regarding the 2020 election.
• Patty Calhoun: “The feds have no business being in it. But right now, the feds are getting into a lot of things they have no business being in.”
• Kristi Burton Brown, who was the Chair of the Colorado GOP at the time agreed: “She did go through a real trial. She did have a real prosecution. These are state and local crimes that she committed. So, the federal level can’t actually come in and give her a pardon because it’s the state and the local level get to decide.” Brown also questioned the sentence as being too lengthy.
• Krista Kafer reasoned the 9-year sentence: “She wasn’t the least bit sorry. She was glad for what she did in compromising those machines and still continues to hold on to those conspiracy theories. And so, given her attitude and the fact that she had no remorse, she got a heavy sentence.”

Political Positions Opening in Colorado:

• Current Colorado Republican Party Chair Dave Williams has announced that he will not run again for the position at the next party election on March 29^th. Krista Kafer jokingly asked Kristi Burton Brown if she was interested in running for the seat again, Brown said no.  Both agreed that Former Routt County Treasurer Brita Horn stands out among the current candidates.
• Patty Calhoun wondered if the next GOP leader could entice some Colorado voters to the party: “If people saw some real leadership and just more willingness to think about other positions, and not go to the far right…maybe you could actually get someone through a primary who might have a better chance at a statewide race.” Patty did mention the odds are long for the Republicans who have already announced they’re running for Governor in 2026.
• Eric Sondermann commented on Senator Michael Bennet’s recent confirmation that he may decide to run for Governor: “I think that says as much about how awful it is to be a U.S. Senator, particularly U.S. Senator of the minority party, as it does necessarily about the Governor’s chair. But Michael Bennet is a formidable person, both intellectually and politically.”
• Eric Sondermann mentioned others who have announced or may announce a run for Governor: CO Attorney General Phil Weiser, former U.S. Senator Ken Salazar and Congressman Joe Neguse. And when it comes to the possibility of current Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold running for Governor, Sondermann said: “Despite all her other flaws… I do not completely dismiss her chances, particularly as the sole female in a party that loves female candidates in a multi-candidate primary.”

With that mention of a woman in leadership, I want to acknowledge the start of Women’s History Month. And, PBS12 is marking the occasion with a new season of the PBS12 Original series of Humanize! Humanize Colorado: Women in the Workforce shares the real and raw stories, victories, and challenges of women in the workforce here in our state.