By Luis Torres, Ph.D.
Posted July 17, 2025
To our readers, a challenge: Name the four most significant issues facing Latinos in the U.S., or specifically, in Colorado. Are the issues that have perpetually faced Latinos still the most pressing after the last six months of the Trump administration, or have others risen in importance? And, how must those concerns be addressed?
These were questions facing the Colorado Convening of Latino Elected Officials on Friday, July 11th, at the University of Colorado Denver, hosted by its Latino Research and Policy Center (LRPC), under the direction of Mr. Milo Marquez. This Convening followed one six months prior, at which four major issues were agreed upon as especially urgent and to be addressed at this July meeting. Attendance at the all-day event was limited to current elected officials, including those from School Boards, City Council, Mayors, and State Legislature House and Senate members.
Among other attendees were Representative Matthew Martínez, Secretary of the Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus (CDLC); Representative Javier Mabrey, CDLC Treasurer; State Senator Julie Gonzales; Mr. Walter Roybal, of the Sierra Grande School District in Fort Garland; Ms. Susan Berumen, Gilpen County District 2 Commissioner; Adams County Commissioner Julie Mullica; and Mr. Nolbert Chávez, University of Colorado Board of Regents member. At least 50 such elected officials represented different areas throughout the state. According to Mr. Marquez, “over a dozen Colorado counties registered for the Convening,” including the San Luis Valley, northern Colorado, southeastern Colorado, Adams County, Boulder County, and Denver, among others. Various Latino leaders presented about the major agenda topics. Two notable candidates for Governor in next year’s election also presented, Senator Michael Bennet and Attorney General Phil Weiser. Mr. Ken Salazar, who served as Colorado Attorney General, United States Senator from Colorado, President Obama’s appointee as Secretary of the Interior, and Ambassador to México, gave an extremely well-received keynote address.
The four major issues that served as the day’s agenda and were discussed in the breakout sessions were as follows:
- Public Education: Promoting Latino Student Success, led by Dra. Tania Hogan, Director, BUENO Center, University of Colorado
- Water Conservation and Management, led by Ean Thomas Tafoya, Green Latinos National Vice President of State Programs
- Public Health Policy Crossroads: Local Action in the Face of Federal Cuts, led by Dr. Pamela Valenza, MD, MPH, Tepeyac Clinic Chief Health Officer
- Community First: Preserving Trust Between Immigrant Communities and Local Law Enforcement, led by Armando Saldate III, Denver Executive Director of Public Safety
What most stands out for this reporter is how these various issues, each seemingly distinct, in fact intersected with each other: cutbacks in Medicaid health insurance, especially for our children, reflect the challenges in education, with directives against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (which means “exclude Latinos”), and mirror the pollution and increasing scarcity of water for our Latino communities. The targeting against “birthright citizenship” for our Latino as-yet unborn immigrant children is reminiscent of the Biblical King Herod’s targeting of Jesus Christ as an infant, who as a new-born was taken, as an immigrant, by Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary from Bethlehem into Egypt (“The Gospel According to Saint Matthew,” Ch. 2). What affects our most vulnerable affects us all. Did any voters in Colorado think they would be safe despite that our infants, still unborn, are targeted by the wrath of anti-birthright citizenship militants? Did King Herod go nice with the “slaughter of the innocents” while his troops charged after Jesus?
These issues, among others, were addressed by the plenary speakers’ remarks because of their significance to our community. Mr. Nolbert Chávez, in his welcome address on behalf of University of Colorado (CU) Denver, noted that since he served as a member of the State Legislature in the 1990s, “the state has gone through an amazing shift from Republican to Democrat” politically. His office as a CU administrator and Regent is on the Auraria campus, and he offered extended remarks about the University’s efforts to address the Displaced Aurarians issue, when over 342 families and over 900 people were “displaced” to build the campus. This “displacement” is still being addressed, with successful efforts for extending the Displaced Aurarians Scholarships for descendants of the original residents.
Representative Javier Mabrey, District 1 Representative, emphasized the impact of what he renamed as Donald Trump’s “Awful Bill,” the tax and spending bill recently passed by the U.S. Congress. Mr. Mabrey noted the Bill is a massive “transfer of wealth” from the lower class to the upper class, with devastating cuts in Colorado to Medicaid health care assistance, with the expectations of funding shifted from the federal government back to the states, but without the accompanying funds Colorado taxpayers sent to Washington for such programs. He noted funds for rural health care would also be reduced, jeopardizing the viability of rural hospitals, as well as rollbacks for clean energy tax credits. Additional speakers elaborated on such funding cuts, that they are “a rolling disaster… a rolling dumpster fire” because of cuts in education, as noted by a school board member, that at the local level, “there is always a disagreement between corrections, education, and health care,” now over less funds. This includes cuts in the SNAP/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for those facing economic challenges to provide food for children.
Such financial challenges were a refrain for many of the speakers, including Attorney General Phil Weiser and Senator Michael Bennet, Candidates for Governor. The election for Governor of Colorado will be held on November 3, 2026. While numerous candidates have announced for the race, Mr. Weiser and Mr. Bennet, both Democrats, are major contenders. They each spoke separately, Mr. Weiser before the lunch break, Mr. Bennet after.
Attorney General Weiser spoke at length, proclaiming first that he is a first-generation American, noting that his grandmother and mother were Holocaust survivors, his mother as a new-born infant. He announced his candidacy on January 2, 2025, and explained his background and platform in “Our Next Journey Together”: “I’ve dedicated my life to service. Why? Because I owe my life to others who served—starting with men and women in uniform, like the American Army soldiers in World War II who liberated my mom and grandmother from a Nazi concentration camp, and those who welcomed my family as refugees. In our family, just one generation is the difference between that concentration camp and my opportunity as a first-generation American…”
As he stated, “We must look for moral courage,” referring to former governor Ralph Carr during the period of Japanese internment during World War II. Governor Carr refused to intern Colorado Japanese Americans, a decision which according to Mr. Weiser cost him the subsequent election, but for which he stands today as a prime example of such courage. Likewise, the Attorney General Weiser indicated he and his office have not capitulated to President Trump’s administrative Executive Orders: “I’m going to stand on principle and fight.”
Mr. Weiser supports Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Latinos and others who have suffered exclusion, rather than inclusion, holding the Costco company as an example of those to support for defending DEI. He gave the example of the Trump administration seeking to cut off funds for a health care program in Colorado, and Mr. Weiser’s office fought against the effort, securing the agreement of the presiding judge supporting the Attorney General’s office. He stated his efforts and those of the office in the recent past, to secure funds from “big pharma” for the opioid crisis, have collected nearly $870,000,000 to provide assistance to a range of efforts in Colorado to fight Opioid addiction. This action has received praise from the Johns Hopkins medical facility, and 90% of the funds have gone to local providers.
In my personal interview with Mr. Weiser, I asked him, “Of all of the issues facing Latinos today, which one or two do you think are most significant for immediate and long-term solutions?” He responded that three were key. The first is affordable housing, as many people feel it is too expensive to live where they are currently, and may be forced to leave. Second, is the adherence to the rule of law, and preserving the protections of the U.S. constitution, including for immigrants to be safeguarded. He especially addressed President Trump’s efforts to end “birthright citizenship” and stated that the 14th amendment grants such citizenship as a “textual law.” Third, he emphasized educational opportunity for all is crucial to his goals as a Governor candidate. With his address, Mr. Weiser confirmed his affinity with the concerns and expectations of the Latino Democratic Convening.
Following the lunch break, Senator Michael Bennet presented his positions and perspectives concerning the Colorado Latino community. He is especially alarmed at the effects upon our democratic principles when the people do not believe in governmental leadership. He said about the economy, “there is not a county in the state, or a neighborhood, where their children believe they can own a home.”
Similar to the theme of water insecurity on the agenda, Senator Bennet stated he had led the effort to secure “half a billion [dollars] for the Arkansas water conduit” in southeastern Colorado, the first major bill he had passed in Congress, stressing the need for communities to “band together” to provide for water infrastructure. This is a rural area, and he emphasized his deep commitment to rural communities, asserting he has spent a great deal of time in rural Colorado advocating for hospitals, schools, and infrastructure to ensure their success. He added, “I’ve gotten 16 billion dollars in the time I’ve been in Congress, and most of that has gone to rural Colorado.” To the question from the audience, “How do you plan on dealing with TABOR” and its fiscal challenges, he responded, “We’ve got a big problem on our hands for funding public services.” He noted Colorado is one of the lowest funded states in America for public education, and through community efforts we can improve such funding: “There is nobody else riding to our rescue.”
One of the very negative effects of such low educational financing is that some school districts, including Pueblo, have resorted to four-day schedules, which Senator Bennet decried as most unfortunate. (According to the Colorado School Finance Project, 78 Colorado school districts are on such schedules.) As the former Superintendent of Denver Public Schools, Senator Bennet stressed that he has valuable experience to address such issues.
In my personal interview with Senator Bennet, I asked him, similar to my questions to Mr. Weiser, “Of all of the issues facing Latinos today, which one or two do you think are most significant for immediate and long-term solutions?” Mr. Bennet indicated that affordability of housing and other necessities is crucial to the Latino community, including the need for public housing. He likewise stressed that health care affordability is a central concern, with cutbacks to Medicaid health assistance. Third, he stated that small business formation among the Latino community is very advantageous and ongoing, but more should be done to further promote Latino entrepreneurship, including for young people, such as in rural communities, and “cutting red tape” will allow for more efficient business development and greatly assist Latinos. Senator Bennet’s remarks were in agreement with the aspirations of the Latino Democratic Convening.
Following Senator Bennet, Mr. Ken Salazar—former Colorado Attorney General, U. S. Senator, Secretary of the Interior, and Ambassador to México—presented his keynote address. He lamented, “So much that is going on in this world, so much that is threatening the work we have done.” He informed the audience, “I have been writing a book, and it is called Borderlands.” He said he often thinks “of how far we have come,” nevertheless, we are undergoing a “project of erasure [but] diversity is our strength, is what has made our country what it is.” He highlighted the contributions of Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, and José Angel Gutierrez. He then read a few sections of his book, recounting his youth when at Colorado College he joined MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán), and later, at the University of Michigan as a law student, recruited Latinos from for example the Texas border. He expressed the need to follow “The rule of law against the rule of man [and] now is the time to define our future.” He ended by stating that as Secretary of the Interior, he engendered in that office a “Respect for Indigenous groups,” and likewise a new “Green” view for the environment. The audience expressed their appreciation for his address with a standing ovation.
The final period of the Convening was the second of the “breakout” sessions. This reporter attended two sessions. The first was “Public Education: Promoting Latino Student Success,” which focused, as Dra. Tania Hogan said, on “Why bilingualism matters for Colorado and Latino student success.” One of the reasons Latinos who speak Spanish struggle, is because the educational system does not value Spanish proficiency. She highlighted the value of the “Seal of Biliteracy,” which high schools can award to students who show proficiency. Some discussion centered around the DACA/Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protections issued by President Barack Obama, with commentary that no new certifications have been allowed since a Federal Judge from Texas ruled against the program in 2021. The second session I attended was, “Community First: Preserving Trust between Immigrant Communities and Local Law Enforcement,” presented by Armando Saldate III, addressing the fears immigrant students and their parents face at the possibility that ICE/Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will enter, or even raid, schools and other places students frequent. A sheriff in attendance stated, as did others, that immigration is a civil, not a criminal, matter, and “It is detrimental to public safety to make immigrants fearful.” Also raised was the very negative decision, announced July 10, that immigrant preschool children will no longer be allowed to attend preschool classes because of a directive from Health and Human Services. This decision reflected much of what the Convening had attempted to address all day.
Luis Torres, PhD, retired, served as Deputy Provost for Metropolitan State University of Denver for Academic and Student Affairs and professor of Chicana/o Studies. Torres is a noted advocate for equity in education, policy and community efforts. Torres is also a member of The Weekly Issue/El Semanario Advisory Board.
- Immigration Policy: Causing as Much Harm as Possible - April 17, 2026
- 24th Annual Día del Niño at the DAM Celebrates Children in Denver - April 17, 2026
- Why Prosecutors Dropped Charges Against Fresno Man Who Escorted Students to ICE Protest - April 17, 2026
