The data provides detailed insights into the dramatic effects of the Trump administration’s mass arrest and deportation efforts in the state and across the country — what one immigration attorney previously described as the federal government’s “deportation machine.”

The share of arrestees who have criminal convictions has plummeted, the data shows, while deportations of those with no criminal history have surged, despite federal officials’ claims that they’re pursuing the The Denver Post analyzed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data . It included arrests in the full year ending Jan. 20, the anniversary of the start of Trump’s second term.

Of the thousands arrested in the state, 78% had a listed date of departure — indicating that they’d already been removed from the United States.

The people arrested in Colorado came from more than 80 countries spread across five continents. Two thousand and one came from Mexico and 782 from Venezuela. Among others, 316 were from Guatemala, 22 from China, a dozen from Afghanistan and four from the United Kingdom.

They ranged in age from a 91-year-old Mexican man deported last year to two children who were, at most, a  year old; one of them has also been deported, the data shows. At least 121 people were younger than 18. Ten of the arrestees were Iranians, all arrested within days of the in June.

Five Venezuelans were removed under the statute created by the Alien Enemies Act, the 18th-century law that . All five were transferred to a Texas facility and then were removed on March 15, 2025, the data set shows. The men then disappear from the data. On that same day, nearly 300 people were sent to the prison in El Salvador from the same Texas detention center, .

In the 12 months prior to Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, 1,202 immigrants without legal status were arrested in Colorado. More than 58% of them had prior criminal convictions, while nearly 24% more had pending charges. Only 17.7% had no criminal history.

Looking at the Trump-era arrests, those trends flipped. Of the 4,750 people arrested over the ensuing 12 months, the largest group — 38% — had no criminal history, compared to nearly 35% with prior convictions and 26% with pending charges.

Surge in ICE presence, arrests

The Post analyzed ICE arrest and detention data obtained and released in full by the , which is composed of researchers and lawyers based primarily at the University of California, Berkeley.

For the purposes of its analysis, The Post examined arrests that occurred in Colorado during the 12-month period that began when Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, 2025, and compared it to arrests made during President Joe Biden’s final year in office.

The Deportation Data Project, using data obtained from public records requests, has released four broad batches of ICE data detailing arrests and detentions since Trump’s return to office. ICE has released far more limited information on its operations, often focusing on arrests of immigrants with criminal backgrounds.

Using unique identifiers attached to each arrestee, The Post excluded a number of apparent duplicate arrests from its analysis. In both 2024 and 2025, The Post examined only the arrests that the data identified as occurring in Colorado or at a specific location within the state.

The Post used publicly available information and multiple datasets to match more than a dozen specific arrests — of a Colombian family from Durango; of a Brazilian-born college student on I-70; of a Peruvian school teacher and her family; of a who later died in a Mississippi detention center — to corresponding entries in the Berkeley data.

The surge in arrests came as ICE has significantly ramped up its presence in the state. Gregory Davies, a senior ICE official in Denver, testified in court last month that the number of deportation officers in the area has more than doubled — to roughly 200 — since Trump’s return to office. The Denver field office also has responsibility for Wyoming.

A recent of internal ICE data identified more than 5,200 ICE arrests in Colorado and Wyoming between Trump’s inauguration and mid-December. In the Denver area, the Times found, arrests peaked last summer and have declined since.

The Post’s analysis found a similar trend in Colorado: There were more than 500 arrests in both June and July, averaging more than 17 per day. Over the fall and winter, they dropped, averaging between 12 and 14 per day.

The ICE detention center in Aurora has flexed its capacity to the maximum possible and can now hold more than 1,500 detainees, according to federal contracting records. When Trump was inaugurated, the facility held just over 1,000 people. By the end of the year, its daily population regularly topped 1,400, the Berkeley data shows.

Federal officials have also pursued plans to open one or more additional detention facilities in Colorado.

In an unsigned statement Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said the data — which was obtained by the data project through public records requests — “is not accurate.” An unidentified media office representative did not say what part of the data was incorrect and did not directly address questions about The Post’s findings.

“The facts are: ICE is targeting criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, criminals, gang members and more,” the DHS representative wrote in an email to The Post. “Nearly 70% of ICE arrests nationwide are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S.”

Numbers are ‘not at all surprising’

In October, attorneys suing ICE for its arrest practices questioned the now-former head of ICE’s Denver field office about a prior Post analysis of the Berkeley data. That official, Robert Guadian, said he didn’t know exact numbers but didn’t dispute The Post’s findings.

Davies, the other senior official, testified last month that the agency now averages between 15 and 25 arrests per day. The Post’s analysis shows ICE has arrested just under 15 people per day on average since late January of this year and 13 per day since the start of Trump’s term.

The findings also align with what immigrant-rights advocates and immigration attorneys are seeing in real time.

“They’re not at all surprising,” Laura Lunn, an immigration attorney with the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, said of the numbers. “They’re (emotionally) deflating, but not surprising.”

“Obviously, so much has happened since this administration took over, but I think a lot of folks don’t necessarily remember that Trump announced Operation Aurora shortly (before) he took office,” she continued. “Communities in Denver and Aurora were targeted for mass enforcement actions. We saw military-grade vehicles rolling down the streets of Denver before we saw the same thing happening in L.A., Chicago, Minneapolis.”

The surge in arrests has led to an accompanying growth in deportations, particularly as federal officials have moved to keep immigrants detained indefinitely by, among other things, granting bail far less often to longtime residents of the United States.

Over the past year, according to earlier Post reporting, an unprecedented number of Aurora detainees have been granted voluntary departures — essentially deportations without a more punitive court order. More than 1,700 people have requested voluntary removals from the facility since the start of 2025, according to — a level unparalleled by any period since the researchers began tracking it nearly 30 years ago.

Of the 4,750 people arrested in Colorado during Trump’s first year back in office, 3,710 have already left the United States, the Berkeley data shows.

More than 62% of those arrested and removed last year had never been convicted of a crime, while more than a third had no criminal history.

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities on Tuesday released American academic Dennis Coyle after holding him for more than a year, with the Foreign Ministry saying the release came on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

A statement from the ministry said the academic researcher from Colorado had been released in Kabul, the country’s capital, following an appeal from his family and after Afghanistan’s Supreme Court “considered his previous imprisonment sufficient.”

Coyle called Pueblo home but had spent much of the last two decades in Kabul studying Afghanistan’s linguistic diversity and helping local communities develop resources in their own languages.

He was detained in January 2025 on allegations of violating laws, although Afghan authorities never publicly stated what laws he was accused of having violated.

Molly Long, Coyle’s sister, told The Denver Post earlier this year that the family lost contact with the researcher for months. They finally received a letter July 3, confirming he was alive. Since then, Coyle’s family was able to speak to him during four or five 10-minute phone calls, she said.

“He had all his rights and freedoms taken away,” Long said.

“Today, 24th March 2026, our hearts are filled with overwhelming gratitude and praise to God for sustaining Dennis’ life and bringing him back home after what has been the most challenging and uncertain 421 days of our lives,” the family said in an email to friends and supporters Tuesday.

Coyle’s family declined interviews, saying they were “prioritising Dennis and his well-being.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the Coloradan’s release.

“President (Donald) Trump is committed to ending unjust detentions overseas — Dennis joins over 100 Americans who have been freed in the past 15 months under his second term in office,” Rubio said in a statement. “While this is a positive step by the Taliban, more work needs to be done,” he added.

Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department announced the designation of Afghanistan as a sponsor of wrongful detention, accusing it of engaging in “hostage diplomacy.” Afghanistan joined Iran as countries singled out by the United States for detaining Americans in hopes of extracting policy concessions.

Afghanistan rejected U.S. allegations that it detains foreigners to obtain leverage over other countries, saying Afghan authorities arrest people for violating laws not to make a deal.

The State Department said earlier this month that the Taliban was believed to hold at least four U.S. nationals, including Coyle and Mahmood Habibi, an Afghan American businessman who worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications company.

The FBI and Habibi’s family have said they believe he was taken by Taliban forces in 2022, but Afghan authorities have denied holding him.

Habibi’s brother, Ahmad Habibi, welcomed Coyle’s release but said in a statement that “we hope that our family will soon have the same feeling of relief, when Mahmood is returned home to us.”

Rubio also mentioned another American, Paul Overby, who is listed on the FBI’s missing persons website as having disappeared in eastern Afghanistan’s Khost province in mid-2014 while conducting research for a book he was writing.

“We are still seeking the immediate return of Mahmood Habibi, Paul Overby, and all other unjustly detained Americans,” Rubio said. “The Taliban must end their practice of hostage diplomacy.”

In their statement, Coyle’s family acknowledged that Habibi and Overby remained in Afghanistan, and said they’d hoped all three men would have been released together.

“While we begin the healing process with Dennis back with us, we remain mindful of the many families who are still waiting for their loved ones to return…” the family said. “We recognize the immense privilege of our family’s reunion today, and pledge to keep praying and fighting for all Americans held to be swiftly released.”

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said his country “has not arrested citizens of any country to achieve political goals,” according to a statement released by the ministry. Coyle, he said, had been released “after going through the judicial process as a result of violating the laws.”

Both Rubio and Muttaqi thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping mediate the release, and mentioned Qatar had also played a role. The Foreign Ministry said Muttaqi had met in Kabul with former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad ahead of the release.

Afghanistan released Coyle “based on humanitarian sympathy and goodwill, and believes that such steps can further strengthen the atmosphere of trust between countries,” the Foreign Ministry said in its statement, adding that Kabul “also expresses the hope that both countries will find solutions to the remaining problems through understanding and constructive dialogue in the future.”

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops, nearly 20 years after they were ousted from power in a U.S.-led invasion following the 9/11 attacks in the United States.

The eagle figure–valued at about $1,000—is from the Operation Red Wings memorial, which honors 19 U.S. service members killed in the 2005 Afghanistan mission.

The theft was discovered on Wednesday morning.

The monument is dedicated to Colorado Navy SEAL Danny Dietz and his fallen teammates.

No suspects have been identified, and anyone with information is asked to contact Littleton Police at 303‑794‑1551.

Vietnam Syndrome — the deep reluctance to project American power abroad after the trauma of the Vietnam War — was first widely recognized as a driving ideology within Democratic circles just as I arrived in Washington, D.C., to begin my career. The mood of the city then was shaped by the revelations of the Vietnam War, the publication of the Pentagon Papers, and the findings of the Church Committee, chaired by Frank Church, on which Colorado’s freshman senator, Gary Hart, served. Americans learned of CIA overreach, covert interventions, and hard truths about government deception. The national psyche shifted.

By the time the Iran hostage crisis unfolded under President Jimmy Carter, the Democratic Party was deeply wary of military force. Carter chose negotiation and restraint as 52 American diplomats were held for 444 days by the new Islamic Revolutionary regime. Whether one agrees or disagrees with his approach, it reflected a broader hesitancy shaped by Vietnam’s shadow.

That hesitancy has never fully disappeared.

Today, as the United States and Israel act together to degrade the military capabilities of the Iranian regime — a regime that has funded and armed proxy militias across the region for decades — I am struck by the cautious, almost antiseptic language coming from many Democratic leaders.

For example, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said this week: “Any use of military force must be consistent with our constitutional framework and avoid drawing the United States into another open-ended conflict in the Middle East.” That concern is understandable.

No American wants another Iraq or Afghanistan. But when constitutional process becomes the primary lens and the strategic objective becomes secondary, it echoes the old reflex: avoid strength for fear of entanglement.

Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger, emphasized that “Congress must be consulted before further escalation,” underscoring the need for oversight and warning against “another prolonged regional war.”

Rep. Joe Neguse similarly stressed that, “First and foremost, our constitution is crystal-clear: the decision to take our nation to war rests with Congress.”

Process, process, process. Deflection from the embrace of American strength to rid the world of the worst of the worst.

I write this not as a detached observer. I spent formative years in Washington working in pro-Israel politics, engaging both Democrats and Republicans, and watching firsthand how internal party debates over strength and restraint played out. In the year 2000, I ran as the Democratic nominee in Congressional District 6 now held by Jason Crow. Yet today, I view these events from the front row.

Six years ago, I became a dual U.S.–Israeli citizen and now spend most of my time in Herzliya, just north of Tel Aviv. Since Saturday morning, much of our community life has shifted underground. We move between home and reinforced shelters as Iranian ballistic missiles — fired from roughly 2,000 miles away — target civilian neighborhoods. These are not symbolic gestures; they are designed for mass casualties. The families in these shelters are not abstractions in a policy debate. They are neighbors.

From this vantage point, the debate in Washington feels tone-deaf.

When Iran’s leadership vows Israel’s destruction and arms groups who are committed to that goal, deterrence is not theoretical. It is existential. The current joint operation — undertaken by President Donald Trump in coordination with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — may be politically controversial, and both leaders are undeniably flawed. But the strategic objective of preventing a violent theocratic regime from expanding its destructive reach is neither reckless nor novel. It is long overdue.

This is where Vietnam Syndrome still lingers — not as a slogan, but as a mindset. The instinct to lead with caution rather than clarity. To emphasize process before principle. To worry first about overreach rather than about the consequences of inaction.

I do not expect unanimity. I do not expect cheerleading. But I do expect moral clarity when civilians are under sustained attack and when a regime that has destabilized a region for nearly half a century is finally facing meaningful consequences.

From Washington, these questions are strategic. From Herzliya, they are personal. The Democratic Party once prided itself on combining moral leadership with pragmatic strength. The challenge now is whether it can rediscover that balance — not abandoning caution, but refusing paralysis. History shows the costs of both overreach and retreat. The test of leadership is knowing the difference.

Ken Toltz is a 3rd-generation Denverite, long-time political activist, and a former Democratic nominee for Colorado’s 6th Congressional District. He now lives in Herzliya, Israel.

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Updated March 6, 2026 at 8:19 a.m. Due to a columnist’s error, the original version of this opinion column misquoted Rep. Joe Neguse.

Suddenly, they lost contact with the 64-year-old who called Pueblo home but had spent much of the past 20 years in Kabul working to survey Afghanistan’s rich linguistic diversity and help local communities develop resources in their own languages.

The family learned that Coyle was kidnapped near his workplace by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence. He has not been charged with a crime, and his family doesn’t know why he was taken.

The family’s first contact, Long told The Denver Post in an interview Wednesday, was not until July 3. It came in the form of a letter. Long can barely remember its contents since she was overcome with euphoria and relief, knowing he was still alive after months of silence and fear.

Since then, Coyle’s family has only been afforded four or five 10-minute phone calls, Long said. When they do get to speak, the conversation is guarded.

The family knows he’s being held in a basement with very little light and no windows. He has no mattress, just a floor mat to sleep on, Long said. He’s prohibited from speaking to anyone.

“He had all his rights and freedoms taken away,” she said.

Coyle grew up in the Phoenix area and moved to Pueblo for a job in the late 1990s. He returned to the U.S. every 18 to 24 months, with Colorado as his home base.

“Once he got there, he knew that’s where he was to be,” Long said. “He fell in love with everything Colorado.”

He’s never been married or had children, his sister said, but has always remained close with his family and community here.

Coyle evacuated Afghanistan in 2021 when the , but returned 18 months ago to finish his language project.

The Trump administration and the Afghan government for months have been secretly negotiating the release of U.S. detainees, including Coyle, the . Sources, though, told the newspaper that talks have stalled, with Afghan officials insisting that the Americans release Muhammad Rahim, the last Afghan inmate held at Guantánamo Bay, in any deal.

The U.S. State Department in June classified Coyle as wrongfully detained under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act.

The administration, Long said, has been highly engaged with the family.

“This is the president’s top priority — we can feel that,” she said. “It feels inspiring to know that President Trump knows my brother’s name and has it in his purview.”

At least five U.S. prisoners have been freed from Afghanistan over the past year. The Trump administration has publicly demanded the release of three more people, including Coyle, though Afghan officials say they only have two Americans.

Afghanistan ranks in the top five countries with the most number of American wrongful detainees, along with Venezuela, China, Russia and Iran, said Elizabeth Richards, director of hostage advocacy and research at the , an organization that advocates for American hostages and wrongful detainees held abroad.

Last year, more Americans returned from wrongful detainment than in any of the previous 22 years, Richards said.

“This shows the resolve and commitment this administration has to bring Americans home,” she said.

Dennis Coyle, a 64-year-old from Pueblo, was kidnapped on Jan. 27, 2025, near his workplace by the Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence, the group’s intelligence agency, while he was working as an academic researcher to support Afghan language communities, his family said on a .

Coyle’s three sisters and their 83-year-old mother lost contact with him for nine months before learning he was alive, his sister, Molly Long,  earlier this month.

Coyle has not been charged with a crime, but has been held in near-solitary conditions in a basement, his family said on their website. He does not have medical care and must seek permission to use the bathroom, they said.

“With each phone call that we get from him, we get more and more desperate to get him home,” Long told News Nation.

Coyle’s family members were not immediately available for interviews with The Denver Post.

Taliban officials that Coyle is in good health and his “rights as a prisoner are protected.” They claimed formal court proceedings in his case would begin “soon.”

The Trump administration and the Afghan government for months have been secretly negotiating the release of U.S. detainees, including Coyle, the Monday. Sources, though, told the newspaper that talks have stalled, with Afghan officials insisting that the Americans release , the last Afghan inmate held at Guantánamo Bay, in any deal.

President Donald Trump, about Coyle’s situation, said he didn’t know much about it but that he would “take a very strong position on it.”

The U.S. State Department in June classified Coyle as wrongfully detained under the , according to his family.

“The Taliban should immediately release Dennis Coyle and all Americans detained in Afghanistan and end its practice of hostage diplomacy,” State Department officials told CBS News in a statement. “We remind all Americans — do not travel to Afghanistan. The Taliban has detained Americans for years and the U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety.”

Coyle first arrived in Afghanistan in the early 2000s, working legally to “survey Afghanistan’s rich linguistic diversity and help Afghan communities develop resources in their own languages,” his family said on their website. The Colorado native lived in Kabul and built strong, lasting relationships with the community.

“Dennis has always embraced Afghan culture with genuine warmth — sharing cups of traditional green tea, enjoying dried fruit snacks, and engaging in the kind of heartfelt conversations that bridge cultures,” his family wrote. “His love for the Afghan people isn’t just professional; it����ap personal and deeply felt.”

Forced to make an agonizing choice, she entered the Abbey Gate with her younger brother, Rafi, and sister, Maryam. (We’re not including their last names because while they are legally in the U.S., their Permanent Resident Cards do not protect them from being deported or detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Under the Trump administration, green card status holders may be deported or detained by ICE under specific legal circumstances.)

They boarded a U.S. transport plane together, leaving the rest of her family behind.

We met Manizha by chance. She translated for us as we mentored another Afghan family through the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which provides services to refugees and asylum seekers. She was raising her siblings alone as their guardian, working full-time and navigating every appointment, form and crisis without anyone to guide her.

Over time, the three siblings began spending holidays with us, calling for advice and sharing their triumphs and heartbreaks. Slowly, they became part of our family. We love them like our own children.

That is why the political backlash following the Thanksgiving shooting near the White House has been devastating. When an Afghan asylum seeker shot two National Guard members, killing one, President Donald Trump immediately seized the tragedy from 19 “countries of concern.”

This policy followed fear rather than facts.

The danger here is greater than one horrific crime. It is the idea that entire communities can be punished for the actions of a single individual. If this logic prevails, then nearly 190,000 Afghans now legally living in the United States — many of whom risked their lives to support U.S. forces — could watch their futures evaporate. Collective punishment is becoming an acceptable political reflex.

Sacramento County has welcomed more than 9,000 Afghan evacuees since 2021 — the largest concentration of new arrivals anywhere in the country — and today is home to an estimated 20,000 Afghan refugees and immigrants. Families have put down roots in Arden Arcade, Foothill Farms, Citrus Heights and Elk Grove. They have been supported by local mosques, mutual-aid groups and resettlement agencies that helped them thrive.

Afghans rebuilding their lives in Sacramento face the same uncertainty now hanging over Manizha, Rafi and Maryam. What happens in Washington will determine whether these families can stay, work and feel safe in the city they call home.

The anxiety spreading through Sacramento’s Afghan community is magnified by something more disturbing: the double standard in how Trump talks about violence depending on who commits it. When a white Army reservist killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, Trump posted a restrained message calling it a “terrible situation.” But when the accused perpetrator is brown, Muslim or visibly foreign, the language shifts to “animals” and “crimes against our entire nation.”

Last week, Trump repeated this pattern, calling Somalis “garbage” and vowing to remove the entire community from the country. These rhetorical choices are not accidental; they make clear which communities are granted humanity and which are cast as threats.

For Afghan families like the one we love, the message is chilling. Manizha researched the safest neighborhoods in Omaha, determined to give her siblings a life free from the fear they grew up with. She became the household’s primary breadwinner as a caseworker, often staying late to help clients who reminded her of her own family. At night, she studies to become a nurse, poring over textbooks at the kitchen table after her siblings are asleep.

Rafi worked 35 hours a week as a certified nursing assistant while attending high school and learning English. Today, he is studying to become a nurse and is considering medical school. In Afghanistan, he told us, studying felt pointless: how do you plan for a future you might not live to see? Here, he throws himself into demanding coursework, because for the first time in his life, the future feels real.

Maryam made the honor roll while managing a restaurant shift team — a job she started shyly, nervous to speak to customers. During our first visit, Maryam, embarrassed by her English, refused to ask the salesperson a question. Two years later, she cracks jokes effortlessly in English and Dari, switching between languages as she bosses her sister around in the most endearing way.

We have watched them navigate every stage of rebuilding a life. Rafi, once reserved, found a sense of belonging with the medical team at a rehabilitation center. Manizha faces the bittersweet loneliness of a young woman raising siblings who are suddenly becoming independent.

They light Hanukkah candles with us, ask thoughtful questions about American holidays, and bring Afghan dishes from recipes they’ve adapted to the ingredients available here.

America has a long history of scapegoating immigrants, but this moment is especially dangerous because the rhetoric is being weaponized at the highest levels of government.

Manizha, Rafi and Maryam are not threats to this country. They are what this country claims to value: resilience, responsibility and hope. Immigrants strengthen every city they join. When we allow fear to define policy, we don’t just betray our promises to them, we diminish ourselves.

When we think of Afghans, the image we hold is not the one the president wants Americans to imagine. We think of Manizha, Rafi and Maryam — our family. And they deserve better from this country.

Jennifer Obel is a retired physician and writer whose work on immigration, public health and democracy has appeared in national outlets. Kenneth Obel is an attorney who writes about law and civic responsibility. Together, they have resettled many Afghan families through the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.

To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.

Re: “Election 2026: Heavyweight bout,” Nov. 16 news story

Just days after the hottest November day on record for Denver, Sunday’s Denver Post described Colorado’s two competing Democratic gubernatorial candidates as heavy hitters. While Attorney General Phil Weiser was reported to have sued the Trump administration more than 40 times, the article also briefly mentioned that Sen. Michael Bennet may experience voter “blowback” for controversial Trump nominee cabinet votes.

Significantly, an Associated Press in The Denver Post described condemnation of the U.N. Climate Summit by Colorado’s former CEO of Liberty Energy (a fracking services company), U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a Trump nominee for whom Bennet broke ranks to support in January.

The AP article reported that Wright, a scientist, defied “global scientific consensus and concern by governments worldwide on climate change,” calling it a “hoax” just as the U.N. climate summit was convening to promote urgent global action to prevent irreversible harm.

����ԲԱ��’s , despite knowledge that Wright had no government experience, and November reports that he had downplayed the importance of renewables, was bullish on nuclear and “was skeptical about the need to address climate change” () did not show understanding of Colorado’s destructive impacts from extreme weather events largely the result of carbon emissions — wildfires, drought, floods, interstate and international climate refugees, and increasing homeowner insurance rates.

The Trump administration has steadily attacked Colorado from government job cuts to undermining our economy by slashing federal investment and creating fear and division. Governor candidates’ actions speak louder than words.

Julie Zahniser, Boulder

I am still scratching my head. Why did Sen. Michael Bennet jump into the race? Two more years to go in the Senate, and Bennet has decided that he wants another job. Huh? We elected you for 6 years. It would have been a non-issue if we had not had an amazing candidate for governor. But Attorney General Phil Weiser is (without question) the most qualified person to be governor. And then Bennet decides to do this after Phil announced.

And then Reps. Jason Crow, Joe Neguse, and Brittany Pettersen jump to — perhaps hoping for a Senate nod. Why? He has received half a million dollars from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. And frankly, Bennet does not have the executive experience (maybe being Hickenlooper’s chief of staff while mayor). I am tired of Washington picking our candidates – Bennet needs to stay in the Senate. We need a fighter. We need Phil Weiser.

Scott Simmons, Windsor

Yes, Trump did condemn the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists

Re: “Blurring fact and fiction,” Nov. 16 commentary

This commentary with odd reasoning effectively calls President Donald Trump a racist and white supremacist, with references to his administration as Nazis and the president to Hitler and Mussolini. This amounts to adding to the continuation of leftist progressives’ name-calling because they can’t otherwise counter common-sense positions of the current administration, and is irresponsible because it could lead to impressionable and otherwise uninformed and mentally off persons to try to become a hero by assassinating the evil authoritarian.

The author’s entire barrage of commentary is plainly untruthful, as shown in reference to the August 2017 incident in which protestors were in favor of or against the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, that turned violent. Author Angie Chuang claimed it wasn’t clear what Trump meant when he said, “I think there is blame on both sides. You had some very bad people in that group. You also had some very fine people on both sides.”

What he conveyed in his comments was that there were bad people (violent) on both sides and there were fine people (peaceful) on both sides who were either for or against removing the historical statue and renaming the park it was in. He said clearly regarding “fine” people, “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally.” Because the author didn’t point this out, the editorial should be totally discounted.

Steve Lloyd, Cheyenne

Declaring war at the Air Force Academy

Re: “The U.S. Air Force Academy is on the brink of failure,” Nov. 16 commentary

Former visiting professor Thomas Bewley presented a well-documented analysis of the collapse of academics at the Air Force Academy and a thoughtful plan to reverse this trend. His efforts will be for nought.

Secretary for War Pete Hegseth, acting at the direction of Donald Trump, has little, if any, interest in the creation of a thoughtful and ethical officer corps. Their notion of a proper U.S. military is one that will immediately carry out the orders of the Commander-in-Chief – whether those orders are legal or not.

Despite the fact that U.S. actions contravene international law, the administration delights in presenting videos that show the killing of civilians in boats off the coast of South America. To my knowledge, no member of the U.S. military has refused to carry out these orders.

The ethos of the Trump administration is to develop a U.S. military that will unthinkingly “kill on command.” Academic excellence plays no part in this. Mindless obedience to orders does.

Guy Wroble, Denver

I read with sadness the article concerning the Air Force Academy’s problem with departing educators. The author missed one point: This was caused by the current administration and the Department of Defense Secretary. These non-patriotic persons care not a bit about education for recruits in the academy, only teaching their version of truths that they find relevant to their cult.

Independent educators and freedom of opinion is the only way to mold our future leaders and defenders of our precious country. This was created by President Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth and needs to be redone as the programs were meant to be.

Stephen Luxenberg, Coral Springs, Fla.

How can we turn backs on our Afghan allies?

Re: “Protect our allied Afghans from Trump,” Nov. 16 commentary

Krista Kafer has joined David Brooks as my two favorite Republicans! Great, compassionate, and spot-on column about protecting humanitarian immigrant visas. How a country like ours can turn its back on people who have put their lives at risk for us is indeed unconscionable. Thank you, Ms. Kafer!

Dan Eberhart, Denver

After reading Krista Kafer’s column regarding deportations, I am gaining more respect for her.

Yes, we should protect our allied Afghans from Trump, but she goes further, saying how she wonders how a large and wealthy country can turn its back on people fleeing death and imprisonment, and calling it unconscionable.

We are a nation of immigrants and former President Ronald Reagan gave an impassioned speech that accepting immigrants separated us from the majority of the other countries in the world. They helped make our economy the envy of the world.

Krista, congratulations on an insightful column.

Dave Shaw, Highlands Ranch

I want to congratulate Krista Kafer’s opinion regarding the treatment of the Afghan refugees as a whole and Mohammad Ali Dadfar in particular.
Thank you for highlighting the efforts of Reps. Jason Crow and Joe Neguse to help him. I then searched for information on the other Colorado House members and their comments or actions. Rep. Diana DeGette has been vocal on her support of Afghan refugees as has Rep. Brittany Pettersen.

On the GOP side, I could only find one reference to Afghan refugees attributed to Reps. Jeff Hurd, Gabe Evans, or Lauren Boebert. That was Rep. Lauren Boebert being one of the 16 Republicans who voted no on the Jason Crow bipartisan bill to make it easier for Afghans who supported U.S. Military actions to get Visas. The . The bill passed 407-16. The silence of both Reps. Hurd and Evans is not surprising, nor is the enmity of Rep. Bobert to the plight of legal immigrants. They are merely following the Trump narrative of hate and cruelty.

Jim McKeeman, Aurora

I appreciate your story regarding the detention of one legal immigrant, Mohammad Ali Dadfar, who, with his family, was brought to the U.S. (by the U.S. government) to avoid persecution by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Now he is being persecuted by the Trump administration for the simple crime of being an outsider in this country that has traditionally prided itself on welcoming immigrants from all lands. The Trump regime is applying “guilty until proven innocent” thinking to legal immigrants who are, unfortunately, swept up by raids in locales where many immigrants reside. The Statue of Liberty should be blindfolded and placed in a museum of antiquities. Thank you for speaking out!

Kathy McCartney, Lakewood

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Aug. 6 marks 91 days since the legislature ended its 2025 session. That’s the default day for newly adopted legislation to go into effect, and it’s typically the busiest law-enactment day of the year. Some new laws, including , are going into partial effect.

Others, like the — also known as the Emperor mushroom — as the state’s official mushroom, will kick in with full force.

As of Wednesday, online advertisements and display models of about the air quality risks associated with using the stoves indoors. “Cell-cultivated meat,” meaning grown in a lab, must also .

Members of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes . Candidates undergoing an election recount monitor the process, alongside other election officials.

The legislature also removed that describes the duties of Colorado’s agriculture commissioner. The statute previously used masculine pronouns to refer to the position, which has been held by .

Here’s a look at several other laws that go into effect Wednesday.

Nuclear energy, clean energy

After years of trying, Sen. Larry Liston, a Colorado Springs Republican — with some bipartisan help — finally passed legislation this year that adds nuclear energy to the state’s list of clean energy options.

Under , the new classification allows nuclear energy to qualify for new state grants. That doesn’t necessarily mean nuclear plants or newer technologies, like small modular reactors, are about to open anytime soon. But the bill’s sponsors have said that the move will help expand the state’s options to meet its electrical needs.

Hospitals’ shield for discount drug program

The legislative positioning over the 340B Federal Drug Pricing program began more than a year ago and pulled in much of the Capitol’s lobbying corps. The program lets nonprofit hospitals buy prescription drugs at a discount, sell them to patients at full price and keep the difference. 340B has provided millions of dollars in additional revenue for hospitals each year, and the industry says it’s a vital lifeline for smaller facilities in particular.

Pharmaceutical companies have moved to limit the program in recent years, and sought to prevent them from doing so in Colorado. The pharma lobby launched its own bill in response, seeking tighter restrictions on how the program’s proceeds can be used.

Ultimately, the hospitals won out and SB-71 passed, meaning pharma can’t curtail the program in the state.

The bill also includes some limitations on how hospitals can spend proceeds from 340B, including blocking its use to pay for taxes, advertising or lobbying.

Fake revenge porn

Amid the rise and expanded capabilities of artificial intelligence, allows Coloradans to sue over a person’s release or threatened release of a fake but “highly realistic” and intimate image of them. The law doesn’t require AI to be used, and it applies if the person depicted in a fake image is identifiable, didn’t consent to the image’s release and suffered emotional distress as a result.

The plaintiff can pursue damages, including up to $150,000 in liquidated damages.

SB-288 also amends the state’s child exploitation laws to include fictional, computer-generated images of children that are sexually exploitative.

Interventions for bad landlords

allows cities, counties and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to seek temporary control of chronically dilapidated apartment buildings. Government officials would have to demonstrate to a judge that a landlord repeatedly refused to clean up its properties, causing a public safety problem. The law lists rat infestations and filthy conditions as examples of what would qualify.

Any properties placed in court-ordered receiverships would be returned to their owners after a few months.

The bill was drafted in response to CBZ Management’s rundown properties in Aurora and Denver, which for years were the subject of complaints of unsafe living conditions and alarming inspection reports. Several of CBZ’s properties have been placed in court-ordered receiverships, either by unpaid creditors or by municipal officials.

SB-20 also gives the attorney general the authority to enforce other housing laws, though some of that new authority will be granted starting Jan. 1.

Regulating ‘claim sharks’

Serving as the middle path between two competing bills, limits how much companies can charge veterans for helping them file disability claims with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Those companies often charge veterans up to five times what the veteran will receive in new benefits; SB-282 caps those fees at $9,200 or 25% of the benefit, whichever is less.

It’s technically illegal to charge veterans for help filing claims. But Congress stripped out the penalties for doing so nearly 20 years ago, just as the number of veterans ballooned thanks to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Further congressional inaction has prompted companies to file legislation around the country allowing them to charge up to $12,500, while veterans groups have sought to ban the companies from charging anything at all.

Reformed vacancy committees

The much-maligned process for quickly replacing legislators who leave office early received a bipartisan facelift this session. requires lawmakers appointed through a vacancy committee to serve a maximum of one legislative session before standing for an election.

Depending on the year, that might happen in the regularly scheduled November election, or it may occur in a special November election.

The bill takes the current vacancy process and marries it with a special election. For instance: State Rep. John Smith, a Democrat, resigns three months into his two-year term. Shortly after, a vacancy committee — composed of Democratic volunteers and officials — selects Jane Johnson to step in and replace him. She serves through that year’s legislative session before running in a special election in November. In that race, only Democratic or unaffiliated voters can participate, akin to a primary.

If elected, she serves out the full term.

The bill was an attempt to fix a process for replacing legislators that just about everyone agreed was broken. Resignations are common — five state senators have resigned in the past nine months, out of 35 in that chamber — and more than a quarter of the legislature received a vacancy appointment at one point or another.

The vacancy committees are composed of between several dozen and just a handful of party officials, and under the outgoing rules, they select new legislators who may not face voters for nearly two years in some cases.

Re: “Trump slams his supporters over Epstein ‘hoax’,” July 17 news story

If there’s one thing everyone ought to know by now, it’s that President Donald Trump never suffers for his infidelities and other misconduct. There’s no doubt in my mind that Elon Musk is orchestrating the current coup on the right. That’s fine, and it’s entertaining to see allies, insiders, and loyalists throw fits at Trump.

We should not delude ourselves, however, about whether these detractors will fall right back in line when it counts. They will, like they always do. They just approved his omnibus budget weeks ago.

Besides, no one likes Vice President JD Vance. No one wants Vance as president. Not even Trump supporters.

What we should expect is that the Epstein files will be redacted and released. Trump will carry on being a horrible president. He will probably fire several people after this blows over.

Nate Craig, Boulder

Government leaders need to get off wrong side of history and gain new perspective

In the book “Mark Twain” by Ron Chernow, I found the perfect explanation for why many people conformed to “the terrifying power of the environment to shape and distort human behavior.”  He was referencing the justification of slavery by so many otherwise good people, including clergy, but it explains so much more.

I grew up in the 1940s and ’50s in what is now referred to as a “red state.” And I must admit that I was a racist, believing that whites were intellectually superior to Blacks. My parents didn’t use racial slurs and were kind, but they erroneously judged Black people harshly. Sadly, that was more liberal than many locals felt.

I was an adult when I moved to a more neutral environment and was gradually exposed to reality.

But this is not about racism per se. It is about sequestered groups and communities that seldom are exposed to other views of the world.

That Chernow quote is the best explanation I’ve found to understand how good, kind people can accept the travesties taking place.

Yes, immigration is broken, but we turned our heads for years and took advantage of the workers. Send back the criminals and the more recent arrivals, but have empathy for those who have been here for years, raising families, serving the communities, and often serving in the military.

We have known there has been waste in all government departments for decades. It must be corrected — but not with a chainsaw and mindless, inhuman, vindictive overkill.

Congress and other branches of government must be more informed by their awakened constituents than they fear the president.

David L King, Erie

Wasting life-saving food supply

Do Trump supporters have limits? I had to wonder this when I read in that the Trump administration will incinerate 500 tons of high-energy biscuits. These are emergency rations that could feed 1.5 million malnourished children for a week. They were intended for distribution in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but the elimination of the USAID funding (and the whole program!) means this $800,000 stockpile will expire and is slated to be incinerated.

Is this the American way? Are there no limits to what Trump fans will put up with in their allegiance to him? I can’t believe Republican congressmen are so fearful of being primaried that they put up with these daily outrages.

I would think any decent person would be as repulsed by this as I am. Yet it����ap just another day for this administration. I pray for the day when the rats will leave the sinking ship.

Chris Mech, Gypsum

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