Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus Meets with Governor Polis to Discuss Community Concerns and Upcoming Legislative Session

DENVER, CO — This afternoon, members of the Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus met with Governor Polis to discuss the upcoming legislative session and elevate several community concerns. The caucus introduced their four policy pillars for the year: 

Protecting air, land, and water,

Safer jobs and higher wages, 

Addressing the cost of living, and 

Defending our communities.

Much of the legislation that the caucus will be supporting this year will be grounded in these four pillars. 

In addition to discussion of legislation, a primary concern raised by the caucus is the continual conflation between criminality and immigration in the current media landscape and in the Governor’s own remarks. Crime and immigration are two very distinct issues and such rhetoric makes not just immigrants unsafe, but all communities of color. CDLC shares the value of wanting to make Colorado a safe state, but this should not be done at the cost of immigrants. There is no statistical evidence to show that recent arrivals are committing crimes at higher rates than other groups and it has been proven many times that overall immigrants commit crimes at much lower rates than US citizens. As we await the beginning of the Trump Administration, it is more important than ever that all branches of Colorado’s government stand up to protect our most vulnerable communities and prevent the further marginalization of immigrants.