Don’t Take the Bait

As I get closer to the end of my time at The Colorado Health Foundation, I find myself reflecting on the Colorado I’ve come to know.

I’ve had the privilege of spending time in communities across our state and seeing the ways people are working together to make Colorado a healthier place. I’ve seen neighbors organize around important issues and find solutions. I’ve watched leaders build power and create opportunities for people whose voices have too often been left out of decisions. And I’ve seen people come together across differences because they believe change and something better is possible.

Those experiences have deepened my belief that our communities are strongest when people know they belong, a belief that feels especially important right now.

Over the past several years, the Foundation has spoken out when policies and actions have threatened the health and well-being of the communities we serve. Today, I remain outraged by what immigrant, refugee, and transgender Coloradans are experiencing.

Immigrant and refugee communities are facing escalating uncertainty as federal immigration enforcement reaches deeper into everyday life. Across Colorado, families are navigating what increased enforcement means in schools and workplaces while a tuberculosis case at the Aurora ICE detention facility has raised serious concerns about the health and safety of people in detention. These actions affect whether children feel safe at school, whether families can participate fully in daily life, and whether people can trust that their health and dignity will be protected.

Since 2025, the federal government has taken numerous actions targeting LGBTQ+ people. including transgender young people. It has rescinded protections related to gender identity, pursued policies that restrict access to gender-affirming healthcare, and threatened schools over efforts to support transgender students. These actions represent an unacceptable intrusion into deeply personal decisions about our bodies, our health, and how parents care for their children. Every Coloradan should have the freedom and agency to make decisions about their own and their children’s health and well-being, and feel supported, not constrained, by public policy.

These are not abstract debates. Immigrant, refugee, and transgender Coloradans are part of our families, schools, workplaces, and communities. They are bearing the most direct and immediate harm, but the consequences affect us all. When neighbors are made less safe, children are afraid to attend school, or people cannot access the care they need, the trust and connection that help communities thrive begin to break down. 

To immigrant, refugee, and transgender Coloradans, we see you. You belong here. To the organizations working alongside these communities, we have your back.

When our Challenges Become About Each Other

There is another reason this moment concerns me.

People across Colorado are facing very real problems. The cost of housing, groceries, childcare, and healthcare is stretching families thin. The 2026 Pulse Poll found that rising costs are forcing Coloradans to make difficult tradeoffs, while frustration with government’s ability to address these challenges continues to grow.

That frustration deserves to be taken seriously. People want systems that work. They want to be able to afford their homes, care for their families, see a doctor when they need one, and believe their children will have opportunities to build healthy lives. 

But when people are struggling, it can be tempting to explain those struggles by pointing toward someone else. To decide there isn’t enough to go around and draw lines between who is deserving and who isn’t. To turn our frustration with systems into frustration with one another.

That doesn’t solve the problems Coloradans are facing. Targeting people because of who they are or where they come from won’t make housing more affordable, put food on the table, or make healthcare easier to access. It distracts us from the challenges that demand our attention and makes it harder to solve them together.

The Colorado I know is more compassionate than that, and that is why this moment asks something of all of us. 

We cannot allow fear or frustration to turn us against our neighbors. We cannot accept the idea that someone else must lose for our families to have what they need. We cannot look away when people are singled out, pushed aside, or told they do not belong.

We should name division when we see it, refuse to participate in it, and defend the freedoms and protections that allow all of us to belong and thrive. The challenges facing Colorado are real. Our neighbors are not the problem; they are part of the solution.

Don’t take the bait. Stand up for one another and keep working together toward a Colorado where everyone has what they need to live a healthy life. I’ve seen what is possible when Coloradans come together. We can create communities where more people thrive.

Our best chance of building a healthier Colorado is always with each other. As I prepare to leave the Foundation, that is what I hope we will hold onto.

New Report Exposes Pervasive ICE Enforcement Across Colorado, Challenging Perception of Limited Activity

The Colorado Rapid Response Network (CORRN), alongside the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) released its 2025-2026 Community Report, a comprehensive analysis documenting trends, experiences, and community impacts related to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal immigration enforcement activity across the state. The report draws on a year and a half of data collected through the CORRN hotline and the relaunched Docuteam, revealing that ICE operations occur nearly every day in Colorado, with notable hotspots in Aurora, Denver, Colorado Springs, Glenwood Springs, and Durango.

The report challenges the perception that ICE activity is limited in Colorado, demonstrating instead that enforcement operations are a daily reality concentrated in immigrant-majority neighborhoods. It underscores the impact of CORRN’s statewide network, which has oriented and provided in-depth support to 519 impacted individuals and their loved ones while offering emergency referrals and tips to thousands more.

Key Findings from the Report

1. Statewide Enforcement with Disparate Visibility: Our data concludes that immigration enforcement actions mostly take place in concentrated areas of immigrant majority communities across Colorado. ICE returns to the same small precinct or block level of addresses a second or third time from one year to the next. While the agency might detain one individual at a time, they are often returning for other people in that individual’s community. ICE is actively picking apart families and neighborhoods in a way that is designed to be invisible to the citizen community. Someone who lives in a majority citizen, majority white area will not see the enforcement happening repeatedly just three miles away. It may take weeks for the larger community to learn a worker, parent, neighbor, or friend is gone. ICE has created two Colorados: one in which people are alert, cautious, caring, afraid, and feeling surrounded. The other in which citizens are holding their breath, waiting for an “occupation to begin” or “things to get bad” to take more action.

2. Time in the United States: Both Dispatcher intakes and Docuteam documentation show that the majority of detained individuals have been in the United States for less than 10 years. Alarming is the shift toward targeting people who have been in the country for over 20 years, individuals with established lives, businesses, citizen children, and deep community ties.

3. People with Pending Applications Being Detained: Docuteam data finds that 37% of those detained had a pending asylum application, family petition, U visa, or other type of pending immigration application.

4. U.S. Citizens Being Detained: Dispatcher intakes tracked three U.S. citizens detained in separate incidents involving ICE partnerships with federal and local law enforcement. All three were held in immigrant detention for 12–48 hours before being released.

5. Impact to Children: Of those detained, 73% have children, including 18% who have U.S.-citizen children. In many instances, children are present during ICE detentions, exposing them to trauma.

Read the full report here.

Attorney General Phil Weiser sues to halt new immigrant detention camp in Hudson

RMIAN applauds Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser for filing a lawsuit in federal court today to halt the proposed immigration detention center in Hudson, Colorado. If allowed to open, this detention center would nearly double immigration detention in Colorado. Every day RMIAN sees the devastating impact of immigration detention on individuals, families, and our state as a whole. RMIAN adamantly opposes and condemns the opening of this immigration detention facility, or any other immigration detention facility in Colorado.

https://coag.gov/press-releases/attorney-general-phil-weiser-sues-to-halt-new-immigrant-detention-camp-in-hudson/

Communities United Against Amendment 81

Join us at Plymouth UCC for a community advocacy forum opposing Amendment 81. Learn how Amendment 81 could affect your community and how to take action.

Únete a nosotros en la iglesia Plymouth UCC para una foro de abogacia en contra de la Enmienda 81. Aprenda cómo la Enmienda 81 podría afectar a tu comunidad y como tomar accion.

Communities United Against Amendment 81/
Comunidades Unidas Contra la Enmienda 81
Sunday, October 4th
4-5:30pm
Plymouth UCC, Fort Collins CO

Register Here

Pepper spray, health crises and rotten food: Inside Colorado’s only immigrant detention center

More than 12,000 detainees have been booked into ICE’s Aurora facility — run by Geo Group — since January 2025. This article from The Denver Post goes into the facility’s poor and dangerous conditions. Current and former detainees described frequent fights and feelings of hopelessness. They say they’re often served inedible or rotten food that frequently gives them diarrhea. They speak of enduring summers without air conditioning and taking boiling-hot showers behind tattered and dirty curtains. Living quarters resound with sneezes and coughs, they say, either from the dust spewed from unreliable air conditioning or from the illnesses spread among the more than 12,000 detainees who have been booked into the facility since January 2025. To report this story, The Post spoke with eight current and former detainees and more than a dozen advocates, attorneys and experts.

“The conditions inside the facility are not good right now,” said Monique Sherman, detention program managing attorney at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network. “We are seeing people who are sick, people not able to access medical care, and people who are being assaulted, and most of our clients don’t feel comfortable talking to us about something if somebody who works at the facility is listening.”

Set between train tracks, highways and nondescript warehouses, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s privately run Aurora facility has long been criticized for its conditions. Three detainees died there between 2012 and 2022. Geo Group, its operator, has been the subject of lawsuits, regular oversight visits from members of Congress, and reports and protests by advocacy groups and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Attorneys and advocates argued that conditions in the facility were not accidental. Geo is one of the nation’s largest and most profitable private prison companies, and problems within its Aurora facility are well known.

“We’re detaining people at an extraordinary cost in large part because we are using detention as a way of brutalizing people in order to get them to self-deport,” said Chapin, the attorney and CU law professor. “The system wants people to give up and leave, and it’s been fairly effective, except we still have thousands and thousands of people in detention.”

Read the full article here.

Vera Institute Releases Report on ICE Detention Trends

Every year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) subjects hundreds of thousands of people to civil immigration detention—a practice that is unjust, inhumane, and completely unnecessary. It does so under a veil of secrecy, sharing only limited, often error-prone statistics with the public.  

This week, Vera Institute updated its ICE Detention Trends dashboard with new data through early August 2026, presenting Vera’s analysis of millions of detention history records over nearly an 18-year period. This interactive data tool reveals an unprecedented level of detail about ICE detention populations—nationally and across the 1,438 facilities in which ICE has detained people—on each day of the nearly 18-year period covering fiscal year 2009 through the first 10 months of fiscal year 2026. 

Additionally, Vera published a report detailing 10 key takeaways from its analysis of the most recently available ICE detention data through August 5, 2026—obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and shared last week by the Deportation  Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley.

Annual RMIAN and CBA Immigration Law CLE

Please join the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network and CBA-CLE for our annual Immigration Law CLE training! 

Date: October 22, 2026
Time: 9am - 1pm
Location: CBA CLE East Classroom

The need for legal representation in immigration proceedings is greater than ever. Build your skills for defending and advancing the rights of non-citizens during this half-day training, offered both in-person and virtually. This training is great for immigration and non-immigration attorneys who have one or fewer years of immigration law experience, and for attorneys who have experience in one area of immigration law and are interested in learning about a new case type.

• Legal research strategies for pro bono immigration matters

• Legal writing for an immigration adjudicator audience

• Novel topics in custody re-determination hearings before the immigration court

Attorneys who agree to take a pro bono case through RMIAN attend for only $75.

Register Here

We’re Hiring: Paralegal

Position Description

RMIAN has an immediate opening for a full-time Paralegal in RMIAN’s Detention Program to provide support to attorneys representing clients detained at the Aurora ICE Contract Facility before the Aurora Immigration Court, the non-detained Denver Immigration Court, and the Federal District Court for the District of Colorado. This paralegal will join RMIAN’s team of attorneys, social workers, and legal advocates devoted to supporting people ensnared in the immigration system who, without this program, would face their immigration proceedings without legal counsel.

This position is meant for an individual who is exceptionally organized and detail-oriented, who is compassionate and patient, and who enjoys working directly with clients and members of their support networks. This is an ideal position for someone who has experience in immigration removal defense and wants to provide essential support to attorneys providing no-cost legal representation on behalf of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The ideal candidate:

• Has experience in immigration law and a strong commitment to immigrant justice.

• Has experience and familiarity working with detained clients.

• Understands how to prioritize, enjoys handling multiple assignments running in parallel, and can triage to meet time-sensitive deadlines.

• Is comfortable with tracking hearing dates, deadlines, and other details in a consistent manner using an online case management system.

• Has experience with and enjoys opening, closing, and managing electronic case files to ensure uniformity and ease of use.

• Understands the importance of recording up-to-date client information for reporting to funders and others.

• Is comfortable working with individuals in a detained setting and ready to provide client-centered services in support of representation.

• Enjoys collaborating with others on a team and is also able to work independently.

• Is a team player and will look for opportunities to contribute to the team’s goals.

• Engages in direct, timely communication, demonstrates empathy, is an active listener, and provides and accepts constructive feedback. 

Responsibilities:

Direct Client Services

• Support multiple RMIAN attorneys representing clients, the majority of whom will be detained in Aurora, Colorado. In collaboration with attorneys, draft applications for relief, motions, declarations, evidence packets, legal correspondence and other documents and coordinate the filing and proper service of all documents.

• Obtain evidence for client cases by researching country conditions, interfacing with family members to obtain declarations and other evidence, requesting records related to criminal legal contacts, medical conditions, and other issues, and coordinating expert witness retention.

• Track deadlines and ensure case filings are prepared in a timely and efficient manner.

• Maintain client files in electronic and paper form (if applicable).

• Open and close client files as needed.

• Administer outgoing mailings and process incoming mail.

• Provide formatting and document preparation assistance using MS Word and Adobe Acrobat.

• Support electronic filing needs in immigration court and Board of Immigration Appeals as necessary.

• Provide assistance as necessary for attorneys filing appeals and petitions for writs of habeas corpus in the federal courts.

• Support hotline processing.

• Support team in pulling together reports regarding client work for funders.

• Liaise between paid experts and other case consultants and RMIAN’s accounting team.

• Support attorneys in streamlining, creating, and implementing systems to enhance the efficiency of client cases.

Outreach, Community Education, and Development Efforts

• Participate in RMIAN’s outreach, community education, and development efforts.

• Participate in internal initiatives related to community building, committee work, and other activities within RMIAN.

Required skills and experience:

• Paralegal certificate from an ABA approved paralegal studies program or accredited institution; or Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in social sciences or a related field; or 2+ years prior experience in immigration law or other legal experience.

• Experience with and strong command of MS Word and Adobe Acrobat.

• Deep dedication to immigration legal services, working with individuals in detention, commitment to working with members of marginalized groups, and people with prior history of involvement in the criminal and immigration legal systems.

Preferred skills and experience:

• Experience working in immigration law, especially removal defense

• Experience using an online case management database

• Experience using electronic court filing systems

• English and Spanish fluency, both oral and written

Work Environment:

• This position is based out of RMIAN’s office located in Westminster, Colorado, but will require some travel to the Aurora Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado.

• RMIAN operates on a hybrid remote/in-person model. This position requires at least three days a week of all-day on-site work (primarily in RMIAN’s office). Additional and/or alternative days in the office or detention facility may be required as needed due to the press of business.

• RMIAN provides a dedicated workstation, computer, and desk in an office setting.

Compensation:

This is a full-time, salaried, non-exempt position. The salary range is $53,000–$66,000, depending on years of experience. RMIAN offers a generous benefits package, which includes:

• Paid time off with 15 days of vacation in the first year of employment and an additional 2 days for each additional year of employment, 10 sick days, 11 federal holidays, plus, an annual week-long holiday office closure;

• Excellent health insurance (100% covered by RMIAN);

• Dental & Vision insurance (90% covered by RMIAN);

• Life insurance & professional liability insurance (100% covered by RMIAN);

• Professional development funds and opportunities;

• Eligibility to participate in RMIAN’s Simple IRA retirement plan (RMIAN matches 4%);

• Eligibility to participate in RMIAN’s flexible spending plan; and

• Eight-week sabbatical after five years of employment

If this profile calls to you, please send your resume and a cover letter that explains why this role is a great fit for you to hr@rmian.org. Please also include a short writing sample and a list of references.

Applicants are encouraged to apply before September 30, 2026. Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

RMIAN is an equal opportunity employer and recognizes the importance of diversity in the workplace. We encourage applications from people of color, immigrants, women, members of the LGBTQ community, and other underrepresented and marginalized groups. RMIAN does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status or veteran status. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment free from discrimination.

Cooking for Culture Announces Participating Bakers and Makers for Second Annual Community Bake Sale on August 23

Cooking for Culture, a community bake sale launched by local organizers, is excited to announce the lineup of participating vendors for its second annual event on Sunday, August 23, from 10 a.m. until goods sell out, at Joyride Brewing (2501 Sheridan Blvd, Edgewater, CO 80214).

The Cooking for Culture community bake sale will feature a variety of baked goods from local food vendors, bakeries, and restaurants. One hundred percent of proceeds will benefit Kaizen Food Rescue, a Denver-based nonprofit founded on the principle that food is a human right, and the Rocky Mountain Immigration Advocacy Network (RMIAN), which provides free immigration legal and social services to children and detained adults in need.

“RMIAN is overjoyed to be a recipient of the 2nd Annual Cooking for Culture Community Bake Sale. Community support and a deep recognition of the incredible contributions of immigrant community members drive our work. RMIAN's team works every day to provide free legal representation and social support for children who otherwise would be forced to navigate a complex and adversarial court system entirely on their own. RMIAN also provides free legal representation to individuals in civil immigration detention. Our clients include long-standing community members, beloved family members, asylum seekers, survivors of trafficking and other crimes, young adults, and elders—all of whom have been imprisoned solely because of a civil immigration infraction. Thank you for supporting RMIAN's work for equal access to justice," says Mekela Goehring, RMIAN Executive Director.

Colorado issues public health order over tuberculosis at Aurora immigrant detention center

This article from Colorado Public Radio offers a positive update on the reports of tuberculosis at the Aurora immigrant detention center. Colorado’s health department issued a public health order Thursday to GEO Group in a push to allow health authorities to investigate the possible spread of the dangerous disease.

The move comes two months after the Adam County health department was notified of a case of suspected TB, triggering its push to conduct a routine investigation. “Colorado should never have been forced to issue a public health order to gain access to an immigration detention facility for a communicable disease investigation,” said Monique Sherman, managing attorney of the detention program at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, via email.  

She called on GEO to comply, saying detention facilities have a “legal and moral responsibility to protect the health and well-being of every person in their custody.”

Legal aid for immigrant kids disrupted after Trump administration lets funding lapse

Earlier this week, the government let a legal-services contract that provided access to lawyers for tens of thousands of immigrant kids lapse. This article offers a breakdown on the devastating impacts ending this funding will have on unaccompanied children, and on the organizations who provide these legal services.

As a result of this decision, at least one nonprofit has laid off staff. Others count the days until their funding runs out. Ethics also limit how many cases lawyers can take on, says Emily Brock, deputy managing attorney for the children’s program at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, an Acacia subcontractor.

“It’s a preparation and capacity issue,” she says. “Especially as the government makes it harder and harder to pursue relief.”

With the funding lapse, Ms. Brock says her organization can’t take on new cases.

“The onus shouldn’t be on us to be fundraising to provide services that the federal government is statutorily required to provide,” she says.

RMIAN Stands with Unaccompanied Children, Demands Government Restore Funding

For nearly two decades, the federal government has funded legal representation for unaccompanied immigrant children because Congress recognized that children cannot fairly navigate the U.S. immigration system on their own. On Friday, July 31, 2026, the Trump administration ended the federal contract with Acacia Center for Justice, effectively dismantling the nationwide network of nearly 100 legal service providers that have provided counsel to more than 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children, including RMIAN. This decision leaves thousands of children—including survivors of abuse, trafficking, and persecution—without legal representation at one of the most consequential moments of their lives.

"Forcing children to face immigration court alone is a profound failure of our legal system and our moral responsibility. No child should be expected to defend themselves in a courtroom where the stakes are their safety, their future, and, in many cases, their lives.  Our immigration system should protect children—not leave them to fend for themselves in one of the most complex legal systems in the world. 

This contract termination for legal services is part of a coordinated, shameful attack on vulnerable children who have survived abuse, trafficking and trauma to get them to give up and return to the dire circumstances they fled in the first place and to make sure they don't have attorneys to help defend them. 

RMIAN stands with our child clients and in solidarity with all the other organizations whose ability to protect children is being intentionally devastated by this administration. We demand that the government immediately restore funding for legal services for children and uphold its responsibility to ensure that every child has meaningful access to due process in our legal system." --Ashley Turner Harrington, Esq., RMIAN Children's Program Managing Attorney

"Nonprofit organizations cannot be expected to replace funding that the government is statutorily required to provide, especially considering the network has not been paid for this critical work since November 2025.

This has a huge impact on RMIAN’s budget and will definitely impact how we fund our work moving forward and the number of children we can represent. But we are committed to doing everything in our power to fundraise and continue representation for the unaccompanied children we committed to, because it is the right thing to do." --Emily B. Brock, Esq., RMIAN Children's Program Deputy Managing Attorney

The majority of RMIAN’s Children’s Program clients are unaccompanied children who made the journey to the United States alone to seek refuge from child abuse, neglect, and violence. The termination of this federal contract means RMIAN will no longer receive federal funding to provide legal services for children like Isaac and Lydia: 

Isaac (not his real name) suffered severe child abuse by his uncles after both of his parents passed away. When he escaped from his village to a nearby city, he was attacked and beaten by a gang. A kind stranger found him alone, injured and afraid and helped him make a long journey from West Africa to the United States. He was detained by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) for several months before being released to a foster home in Colorado. RMIAN represented him in his applications for asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and lawful permanent residency. We joyfully celebrated with him when his green card was granted and he knew he would be safe in the United States for the rest of his life.

Growing up, Lydia (not her real name) was beaten by her father almost daily. As a young teenager, she fled her home and came to the United States as an unaccompanied child. RMIAN will no longer receive funding from ORR to continue Lydia's legal representation, even though she is eligible to receive a green card and eventually become a U.S. citizen.

The decision to end funding for legal representation for unaccompanied children leaves exceptionally vulnerable children to navigate an impossibly complex legal system alone. RMIAN will continue fighting alongside our clients and working with partners across the country to ensure that children are not denied the justice and protection they deserve.

For more on this story, please checkout this coverage:
https://acaciajustice.org/trump-administration-ends-unaccompanied-children-program-contract-with-acacias-legal-service-providers/

https://www.npr.org/2026/08/01/nx-s1-5913679/immgirant-children-lawyers-trump-administration

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-07-29/24-000-migrant-children-could-lose-legal-representation-as-contract-is-set-to-expire

For-profit GEO Group to expand immigrant detention capacity in CO

This interview with RMIAN Executive Director Mekela Goehring examines that dangers of a private company operating immigrant detention centers. GEO Group, a private company operating immigrant detention centers, is set to expand its holding capacity in Colorado after signing a $529 million contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to open a new center just north of Denver International Airport.

The move comes as GEO continues to deny health officials access to determine the extent of a tuberculosis outbreak reported in its Aurora facility.

Mekela Goehring, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, which represents detained individuals, says GEO’s mandate to create profit for shareholders is fundamentally at odds with the health and well-being of people being held.

"Costs are cut in terms of the medical care that's provided to individuals and in terms of the provision of food and services," Goehring outlined. "You simply are not running a facility in the way that it would be run if profit wasn't the number one motive."

GEO told the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment by email there were no active cases of tuberculosis, a highly contagious and potentially life-threatening disease, in its Aurora center. The Adams County Health Department has confirmed a reported case of TB but has not yet been able to independently verify the report.

At least 52 people have died in ICE custody since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, and nearly six in 10 Americans now oppose the administration’s mass deportation program, a 10-point increase from last year.

Goehring pointed out people see ICE is not targeting violent criminals, they are locking up neighbors and co-workers.

"They are our teachers, our scientists, the folks who build our houses," Goehring observed. "We know the deep contributions. We know the deep values that they bring to so many different aspects of our communities."

Goehring added one big misperception is people coming to the U.S. are not following the rules, adding all of the network’s clients are pursuing options available under existing law but the federal government is eviscerating decades of protections meant to ensure equal access to justice.

"Democracy, if it's to continue to exist, has to continue to respect the rule of law. And right now, we're seeing our clients respecting the rule of law in the process that they're going through. But the federal government is not doing the same," Goehring contended.

Deporting Women and Children First

House Plan to Pass Anti-Children, Anti-Family, and Anti-Asylum H.R. 9773 Is Abdication of Congress’ Commitment to Freedom.

Over 100 national, state, and local groups call on Congress to uniformly reject HR 9773

After writing a historic black check to ICE and Border Patrol to further assault our communities, the Trump administration’s allies in Congress are eyeing their next target: children and people fleeing for their lives. The House Judiciary Committee is moving to mark up a new version of H.R.2, a bill anti-immigrant members of Congress first introduced in 2023 to spread fear of a “mass invasion” by immigrants, pit American citizens against their immigrant neighbors, and scapegoat them for the nation’s problems. If passed, this bill would codify the most extreme anti-asylum and anti-children policies in modern American history.

While wrongly touted as a “border security” bill, HR 9773 would have disastrous consequences for people who live here. The bill creates arbitrary penalties to criminalize longtime community members who will suddenly face deportation, when combined with the recent policy aimed at severely restricting the ability for people to gain permanent status in the United States. This will lead to families being separated, chaos in our work force, and an expansion of immigration detention and deportation for longtime residents, including those pushed out of status due to U.S. bureaucratic delays. 

Read the full statement and see the full list of signers here.

Immigrants in Aurora’s ICE detention center not receiving original mail, facing long correspondence delays

Immigrants held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Aurora detention facility no longer receive original copies of mail sent to them, and senders are seeing months-long delays in returned letters making their way back, advocacy organization Casa de Paz says.

Andrea Loya, executive director of Casa de Paz, said the people detained at ICE’s Denver Contract Detention Facility — run by private prison company Geo Group — are having their mail opened and scanned, and they are given copies instead of the original material.

For example, Loya said someone who received a birthday card was presented with a black-and-white print-out of the front of the card. People are being mailed drawings from their loved ones, but given photocopied versions instead of the actual illustrations.

Additionally, Loya said a large amount of mail is being returned to senders without explanation. People used to be able to include self-addressed, stamped envelopes in their mail so the recipients could respond without having to buy marked-up stamps at the detention center’s commissary, but Loya said the stamped envelopes are now considered contraband and are being returned.

“There is a claim (that) if people don’t have the means, the facility will provide the stamps, but we know people have reported they are denied stamps,” Loya said. “The way the system tries to continually make money off people is not fair.”

Immigration advocacy organizations say they noticed the change beginning in April. ICE representatives did not answer an emailed question from The Denver Post about when these changes were introduced.

The practice of opening and scanning mail and delivering the scanned copies to detainees is common within prison settings, and is designed to prevent liquid drugs or other chemicals from being smuggled in.

In Colorado, depending on location and the offender’s status, some inmates receive scanned copies of their mail while others get original copies, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections handbook.

“This is not supposed to be like prison,” Loya said. “Geo claims these are housing facilities and not prisons. Most of the people in these facilities don’t have a criminal record. Quite frankly, it’s just an excuse for people to not get their mail. When that’s the one thing they have access to, that is unfortunate.”

Loya also said immigrants within the facility allege that staffers are opening their legal mail without them present, which goes against ICE protocol.

When reached for comment about the mail operations, Geo Group spokesman Christopher V. Ferreira referred The Post to ICE. An ICE representative did not answer specific questions about their mail policies, including whether staff members were improperly opening immigrants’ legal mail.

Natalie Petrucci, detention program deputy managing attorney at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, said their organization has also seen a change in immigrants’ mail services, including long delays in sending and receiving mail.

As people make their way through immigration court, oftentimes the only way they can present evidence to help obtain asylum or bond is via documents sent through the mail, like letters confirming they have housing or documented proof that they’ve paid taxes, Petrucci said. With mail held up in sometimes months-long backlogs, Petrucci said immigrants within the detention center have to attend court hearings without the evidence they need to advocate for themselves.

“People are having to move forward on their cases without their critical case evidence,” Petrucci said. “We know of examples where their mail didn’t make it in time for their court cases.”

In response to questions about why ICE switched its mail policies, what was now considered contraband and whether the facility was improperly opening immigrants’ legal mail, an unidentified ICE representative said via email that the answers could be found in a document laying out ICE’s mail policies. 

The policy states: “This detention standard ensures that detainees shall be able to correspond with their families, the community, legal representatives, government offices and consular officials consistent with the safe and orderly operation of the facility.”

The policy also said the amount and content of correspondence detainees send at their own expense shall not be limited, except to protect public safety and that correspondence “shall be read or rejected only to protect the safe, secure and orderly operation of the facility, and detainees shall be notified in writing when correspondence is withheld in part or in full.”

The rules state legal mail will only be opened in the presence of detainees — a rule Loya said ICE was breaking.

One of ICE’s rules says incoming and outgoing mail shall be held no longer than 24 or 48 hours before distribution, excluding weekends, holidays or “exceptional circumstances.”

Loya showed The Post letters that were postmarked as having been sent to the Aurora detention facility in April and not returned to sender until late June, according to postal markings on the envelopes.

“It’s very clear they don’t know what they’re doing,” Loya said. “When you get mail in this facility, it gives you strength. When you take that away, it does affect that morale piece, and there’s really nothing else to do in detention.”

RMIAN Statement on Shooting outside Aurora immigration detention facility

RMIAN is deeply disturbed by the shooting that occurred outside the Aurora immigration detention facility last night during a community protest. We are relieved that the injured protester is expected to survive, and our thoughts are with them as they recover.

Everyone has the fundamental and constitutional right to peacefully protest and to speak out against injustice without fear of violence. We unequivocally condemn this shooting and any act of violence that threatens the safety of those exercising their constitutional rights. This violence serves to intimidate and instill fear in our communities, in those held in the facility, and in those speaking up for immigrant rights. 

For years, community members have gathered outside the Aurora immigration detention facility to peacefully bear witness to the harms of immigration detention and to advocate for the dignity and rights of those inside. Their voices are an essential part of our democracy.

As the investigation moves forward, we urge a full, transparent, and independent review of this incident. Violence has no place in our communities, and those responsible must be held accountable.

RMIAN remains steadfast in our commitment to protecting the rights of immigrants, advocating for an end to the expansion of immigration detention, and supporting the right of community members to peacefully demand a more just and humane immigration system. 

Government contractor enters agreement to open new ICE detention center north of Denver

A government contractor announced Monday it has entered into a five-year agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to open a new federal immigration processing center northeast of Denver in Hudson.

The facility will be located in a former prison complex that has sat empty since 2014. The complex is owned by a real estate investment trust, Highlands REIT, and was opened in the 2000s. It was known as the Hudson Correctional Facility but will now be renamed the Big Horn Facility.

"We denounce this profit-motivated contract that will deeply harm immigrant communities in Colorado and our state as a whole," stated Mekela Goehring, executive director of Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network.

Adams County says ICE resistance has slowed tuberculosis investigation at immigration detention center

This article from The Denver Post investigates an active case of tuberculosis at the Aurora immigration detention center. Adams County health officials confirmed the case, but they said facility officials haven’t complied with a public health order requiring access and interviews of affected detainees.

Shira Hereld, an attorney for the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network who works with detainees, said they were aware of two people who were placed in “precautionary” quarantine. Hereld said one sick patient was also moved from the facility, though it was unclear if that person had tuberculosis.

RMIAN Condemns Contract for New Colorado Immigration Detention Center

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Contacts:

Jodi Vongsakoun, development@rmian.org, RMIAN Director of Development & Communications

Mekela Goehring, mgoehring@rmian.org, RMIAN Executive Director

Westminster, Colorado, July 13, 2026—Today GEO Group announced that they have signed a five-year contract for $529 million with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to open a new immigration detention center in Hudson, Colorado, just north of Denver International Airport.

Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) adamantly opposes and condemns the opening of this immigration detention facility, or any other immigration detention facility in Colorado.

“For over 25 years, RMIAN has worked at the Aurora immigration detention center, providing free legal information, legal representation, and social services to detained individuals in immigration proceedings. Our clients include long-standing and treasured community members, beloved family members, asylum seekers, survivors of trafficking and other crimes, young adults, and elders—all of whom have been imprisoned solely because of a civil immigration infraction. The impact of detention is far-reaching and devastating. We denounce this profit-motivated contract that will deeply harm immigrant communities in Colorado and our state as a whole,” states Mekela Goehring, Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network.

The GEO Group currently imprisons up to 1,532 individuals every day at its Aurora detention center. This new contract would allow the Big Horn Contract Detention Center, also to be run by the GEO Group, to imprison up to 1,188 additional community members in Hudson. The devastating impact of this increased detention for Coloradans cannot be overstated.

“Individuals in immigration detention are separated from their loved ones and torn from their communities. They are forced to navigate imprisonment and a complex legal process, usually without representation. They also endure substandard medical care leading to medical crises or even death. Immigration detention creates exponential suffering and harm, not just for the individual who is detained, but also for the loved ones who are impacted by the cascading impacts of this incarceration,” says Monique Sherman RMIAN Detention Program Managing Attorney.

We’re Hiring: Director of Social Work

The Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) is a nonprofit organization that provides free immigration legal services to individuals in immigration detention and to children and their families throughout Colorado.

Through the Social Service Project, RMIAN is among the few immigration legal services organizations in the country to offer integrated social service support. The Social Service Project (SSP) provides comprehensive support to particularly vulnerable immigrant adults, children and youth, and families navigating immigration proceedings, including adults detained by ICE in Aurora. SSP supports individuals with behavioral health challenges, physical and mental disabilities, and other social and systemic experiences that increase their risks of violence, instability, or deportation.

In addition to direct client services, RMIAN’s social workers collaborate with local and national partners to educate legal, health, and social service providers, and advocate for positive systemic change for immigrant members of our community.

Position Overview

We are seeking the right person to lead the next chapter of the Social Service Project’s vital services, and to manage and support a strong team of social workers. The Director of Social Work will direct program strategy; supervise members of the team; oversee day-to-day operations, including grant management, evaluation and reporting; liaise with community partners and funders; carry a limited caseload; and participate on RMIAN’s Leadership Team to carry out the organization’s mission and strategic priorities.

Position Responsibilities

The Director of Social Work is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Social Service Project, providing leadership and strategic guidance. To stay connected to the work, they maintain a limited caseload of clients.

1. Program Leadership—Serve as a leader to the team, including facilitating team meetings, nurturing a culture of inclusivity and support, and identifying opportunities for professional development. Manage program contracts in collaboration with other organizational leaders. Oversee reporting requirements. Serve as a communicator and bridge between the program and the larger organization (particularly the Detention Program and Children’s Program). Identify and support related funding efforts. Guide and strengthen systems for case and program management. Ensure compliance with all relevant policies and procedures. Guide social work-legal staff relationships alongside legal program directors.

2. Supervision of Staff—Supervise two social workers (identifying support needs, training, reviewing work product, providing guidance on case management, and conducting annual reviews), as well as social work student interns, and provide mentorship and case and clinical supervision. Provide effective oversight of social work practice and program obligations.

3. Partnerships and External Relations—Serve as a public-facing representative on behalf of RMIAN’s Social Service Project, building and nurturing relationships with community partners, funders, and community collaborators. Support advocacy efforts as needed.

4. Client Case Management and Oversight—Carry a limited caseload, with a primary focus on being available to provide support to social workers and collaborating with attorneys. Gather, synthesize, and report program data in compliance with rigorous grant evaluation requirements. Support clients’ legal cases by drafting personal declarations, writing post-release behavioral health plans, arranging forensic health evaluations, communicating with family and other support networks, and attending court hearings.

5. Organizational Contributions—Participate in RMIAN’s leadership team and other committees, as needed. Promote RMIAN’s mission, values and organizational commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. Serve as a liaison between Social Service Project team members and the leadership team.

Position Requirements

• A master’s degree in social work from an accredited program and a Colorado LSW (or commitment to obtain one)

• Supervisory management experience

• English and Spanish fluency are required, both oral and written

• Ability to pass required background checks

• Access to reliable personal transportation

Ideal Candidate Profile

RMIAN is seeking candidates who possess a majority of the following qualities and experiences:

• Licensure: A master’s degree in social work from an accredited program and a Colorado LSW (or commitment to obtain one) are required for this position and the ideal candidate is an LCSW with the ability to provide clinical supervision to other social workers.

• Interdisciplinary social work experience: To be successful within a primarily legal services setting, the ideal candidate loves working across disciplines, and has direct social work experience in a legal setting with diverse populations, such as people experiencing stress and instability because of housing instability, immigration, mental health and medical needs, and criminal legal and family policing systems.

• A love of managing staff: This person has management experience and truly enjoys helping their team members grow and develop. They have demonstrated skills with self-awareness and personal and professional growth, direct communication and feedback, empathy and active listening, coaching staff to solve problems, and expertise in time and case management. Additionally, this is someone who has knowledge of the specific well-being needs of the social work profession, including addressing vicarious trauma and burnout.

• Education and collaboration: This is someone who understands how to educate and train others on the value and process of social work, ideally including previous experience collaborating with attorneys. This person is both flexible and direct, and naturally gains the trust of others. They know how to engage people’s strengths toward a goal and to give clear action steps and coaching so they can collaborate effectively.

• Passion for social justice and immigration issues in the U.S.: Ideally, this person possesses some work or lived experience in the immigration space, but at a minimum, they should be fired up to create change that is responsive to the needs of our clients, and eager to learn about the legal processes and structures that impact individual case outcomes.

• Strategic thinking and thought leadership: The ideal candidate has some experience zooming out from day-to-day case management to see patterns and systems issues, and is creative in imagining ways to address structural problems, especially in collaboration with partners. This is someone who knows how to foster relationships with allies across the region to accomplish more together.

• Systems-thinker about client case management: Through their previous social work experience, this person has demonstrated a hunger to be organized, efficient, and effective in juggling multiple clients’ cases and demands, and has developed or strengthened systems that balance details and the big picture. This person can handle multiple tasks running in parallel and can triage to help the team meet time-sensitive deadlines while working toward larger goals.

• Demonstrated commitment to social change: The ideal candidate has a track record of promoting fairness and dignity, both in the workplace and in the wider community. This person has shown cultural humility working with people with diverse identities and experiences, including experiences with legal and other systems of oppression.

Location

This position is based out of RMIAN’s office located in Westminster, Colorado, and requires travel to other sites for client meetings and appointments, such as the ICE detention center in Aurora and other social and health service providers. RMIAN currently operates on a hybrid remote/in-person model, and this position will require a minimum of two full days a week at RMIAN’s office or other work-related locations.

Compensation & Benefits

This is a full-time, salaried, exempt position. Salary is commensurate with experience; the range is between $103,500 and $113,500. RMIAN offers a phenomenal benefits package, which includes:

• Generous paid time off with 15 days of vacation in the first year of employment and an additional 2 days for each additional year of employment, 10 sick days, 11 Federal holidays, plus, an annual week-long holiday office closure;

• Excellent health insurance (100% covered by RMIAN);

• Dental & Vision insurance (90% covered by RMIAN);

• Life insurance & professional liability insurance (100% covered by RMIAN);

• Professional development funds and opportunities;

• Eligibility to participate in RMIAN’s Simple IRA retirement plan (RMIAN matches 4%);

• Eligibility to participate in RMIAN’s flexible spending plan; and

• Eight-week sabbatical after five years of employment

If this position calls to you, please send your resume and cover letter that explains why this role is a great fit for you to hr@rmian.org.

Applications are encouraged before August 15, 2026. Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

RMIAN is an equal opportunity employer and recognizes the importance of diversity in the workplace. We encourage applications from people of color, immigrants, women, members of the LGBTQ community, and other underrepresented and marginalized groups. RMIAN does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status or veteran status. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment free from discrimination.