The League of Women Voters of Colorado strongly condemns the arrest, detention, and deportation of immigrants who are not a danger to the United States and have no criminal record. Many deportees have lived in our community for decades, are parents of American citizens, support their families, and volunteer in our communities.
During a two-week period in February 2025, nearly half of newly arrested immigrants were law-abiding residents who merely wanted to live in peace and feed their children. Other immigrants, who have been in the U.S. less than two years, were denied constitutional due process rights. They were deported under the expedited removal process, which has been expanded to apply to the entire country, yet previously applied only near the border. This magnifies the risk of injustice.
Asylum applicants were detained despite laws allowing them to live here pending a final decision on their application. Residents with Temporary Protected Status were suddenly stripped of their protections.
Student visa holders, permanent residents, scholars, families with children, American citizens, a Venezuelan with a soccer tattoo, and tourists have been detained and/or deported. A student was suddenly detained by masked, plain-clothed federal agents with no notice that her visa had been revoked, apparently for exercising her free speech rights. Many deportations have violated federal court orders.
The indiscriminate deportation of our new neighbors is not making us safer. The repeated violations of the Rule of Law and the Constitution weaken the fundamental freedoms of our democracy. We must stand up for our neighbors.
Irene Tynes, President, Beth Hendrix, Executive Director, Katharine Ebersberger, Chair, J.E.D.I. Task Force, on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Colorado
Denver
