DENVER — Immigration is a big-ticket issue in the upcoming 2024 election.
Colorado has seen its fair share of struggles, with the City of Denver cutting department budgets to find a way to take in an influx of migrants from the southern border as a sanctuary city.
Many of the candidates have identified immigration and border security as their main focus in this race. Opinions on solutions, however, are mixed.
More than 150,000 unauthorized immigrants likely live in Colorado. That’s a population far larger than the biggest cities in the 4th Congressional District. It’s about the population of Highlands Ranch and Parker combined and double the population of Loveland or Castle Rock.
While there’s been a recent surge in new arrivals, many of Colorado’s unauthorized immigrants have roots in the community. In 2019, the Migration Policy Institute estimated half have lived in the United States for 15 years or more.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is vowing to deport up to 17 million people using local police and the National Guard.
In a Republican primary debate for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District Thursday night, Logan County Commissioner Jerry Sonnenbergand U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert agreed mass deportation is the best solution.
“I would use the police,” said Sonnenberg. “I would use the National Guard.”
Boebert ran an ad saying, "Deport them all."
When asked who would be rounding up all those people, Boebert said, "If we need to use the National Guard, whatever it takes to keep our country safe."
Former state House Minority Leader Mike Lynch has called mass deportation an extreme solution.
“If we start rounding people up and sending them across the border, we run the risk of seriously impacting our ag community in the state,” Lynch said. “We need to legislate. That’s what we’re asking for here.”
In a show of hands, everyone but Peter Yu said they would vote to impeach President Joe Biden over his handling of the southern border.
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