Immigration Reporter
Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton
Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton is an award-winning reporter at The Denver Post covering immigration. She forged the newspaper's Denver neighborhoods beat after reporting on the business desk for almost two years, focusing her coverage on social inequities in business.
She writes for National Geographic, Better Homes & Gardens, Business Insider, Vox, Smithsonian Magazine, Delish, Eater and other publications. For two years, she chased after lawmakers on Capitol Hill as Bloomberg Government's agriculture and trade policy reporter. Megan has covered the Venezuelan refugee crisis in Peru, immigration in Colombia, socioeconomic issues in Guatemala, parliamentary affairs in England and White House press briefings in Washington, D.C. During her stint at Arizona PBS, she worked two beats: borderlands and social justice.
Megan received her master's in mass communication from Arizona State University. She now teaches Media Issues in American Pop Culture as a faculty adjunct.
She is a 2025 Gwen Ifill Mentorship Program Fellow, the 2024 Denver Post "I Heart Readers" Award winner, a 2023 Goldschmidt Data Immersion Fellow, the 2023 Denver Post "I Heart Readers" Award runner-up, a 2022 Cannabis Media Fellow at UVM, a 2020 Bloomberg Industry Group "Beltz Award for Editorial Excellence" winner, a 2020 White House Correspondents' Association scholar and a 2019 Pulliam Journalism Fellow at The Arizona Republic.
In 2025, Megan earned four awards at SPJ's Top of the Rockies, including No. 1 in a special topic series about immigration. She trained as part of IJNR's Land Back workshop about tribal issues in 2024 and Covering Climate Now's Climate at the Border initiative in 2025.
Megan is a member of the Overseas Press Club, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, the Indigenous Journalists Association, the Colorado Press Association and the Online News Association. She is proud of her Kanaka 'Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) ancestry.
Featured Stories

After making the journey from Colombia, some migrants “feel left out” of resources for Venezuelans in Denver
Even as Denver has taken in tens of thousands of migrants from Venezuela, it's seen a smaller influx of newcomers from Colombia.

How Denver nonprofits are trying to stem the migrant crisis by reducing poverty, creating stability in Guatemala
Two Denver-area nonprofit groups that run a school and loan money to entrepreneurs in Guatemala are taking a hands-on approach to improve lives and reduce the flow of migrants to...

“Not welcome to stop for gas or food”: Decades later, Colorado’s history of sundown towns still lingers
The U.S. — Colorado included — is dotted with former "sundown towns" where people of color suffered myriad degradations: from restaurants, hotels and gas stations declining to serve travelers to...
All Stories

Colorado’s cannabis industry has fallen on hard times. What does the future hold?
The heyday of marijuana sales in Colorado -- back in 2020 when recreational and medical sales topped out at a combined $226 million — is a distant memory, as the...

Denver-based software company Poppulo laid off 80 employees as tech industry downsizing continues
Poppulo, a Denver-based software development company, laid off 80 employees at the end of April, including 20 workers in Colorado.

Shrimp farming in landlocked Colorado? A few residents are “giving it a shot”
Indoor shrimp farms are popping up across the U.S. at a gradual rate

Pilots from Southwest, American and United are unhappy with their contracts. What does this mean for your vacation?
The fight between frustrated airline pilots and three major carriers -- United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines — is coming to Denver, as pilots push back against their companies...

A dozen new businesses investing in downtown Denver and the Front Range
More than a dozen businesses are opting moving to Denver with new offices and retail spaces, even as the economic forecast for the rest of 2023 remains shaky.

Denver real estate agency revamps old scrapyard on Colfax Avenue as new headquarters
A Denver real estate agency transformed an old scrapyard on Colfax Avenue into its new headquarters.

Three bills heading to governor would be wins for Colorado’s Asian, Native American communities
Three bills that would be wins for the state's Asian and Native American populations are heading to the governor's desk.

Believe it or not, Subaru isn’t the No. 1 vehicle of choice for Colorado drivers
For years now, Subaru has retained a mystique of being the predominate vehicle on Colorado's roadways. That's easy to understand, of course. Take a trip up the Interstate 70 corridor...

Former 19th-century school, 20th-century college now a Hilton hotel in downtown Denver
Where a Hilton hotel now sits on Welton Street in downtown Denver was once the site of former Colorado schools – and close to 150 years of history.

RiNo office building made out of wood on track to be completed this year
A new office complex made out of wood is predicted to become one of Denver's "most environmentally friendly" buildings.