Many Democrats oppose federal immigration sweeps. Can state lawmakers do much about it?

In The NoCo

Many Democrats oppose federal immigration sweeps. Can state lawmakers do much about it?

By In The NoCo,

Lucas Brady Woods, Erin O'Toole, Brad Turner, Ariel Lavery

Published February 28, 2025 at 5:35 AM MST

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Hundreds of people look towards a large capitol building holding U.S. and Mexican flags. — Thousands of people gathered at the state Capitol, Feb. 5, 2025, as part of nationwide protests against President Donald Trump's executive orders and other actions.

Democrats in Colorado control the governor鈥檚 office and both houses of the state legislature. Many of them openly oppose the Republican to ramp up arrests and deportation of immigrants without legal status in the state.

And those Democratic lawmakers have heard from many constituents in recent weeks who also oppose immigration raids.

But more than a month after Trump took office and sweeps began in places like Denver and Aurora, Colorado Democrats still haven鈥檛 determined how they plan to push back.

KUNC politics and legislature reporter Lucas Brady Woods spoke with Erin O鈥橳oole to help explain what state legislators can 鈥� and can鈥檛鈥� do in the face of federal immigration enforcement.

You can find more of KUNC's statehouse coverage from the Capitol 暗黑爆料 Alliance here.

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In The NoCo

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.

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Lucas Brady Woods

I鈥檓 the Statehouse Reporter at KUNC, which means I help make sense of the latest developments at the Colorado State Capitol. I cover the legislature, the governor, and government agencies.

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Erin O'Toole

As the host of KUNC鈥檚 new program and podcast In the NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.

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Brad Turner

Brad Turner is an executive producer in KUNC's newsroom. He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His work as a podcaster and journalist has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition, NPR Music, the PBS 暗黑爆料hour, Colorado Public Radio, MTV Online, the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, and the Longmont Times-Call.

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Ariel Lavery

Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University鈥檚 NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family鈥檚 financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.

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