Colorado immigration protection bill clears Senate vote
The Colorado Senate approved a bill on Monday that would put data protections in place for immigrants and limit where federal immigration authorities can physically access without a warrant. The legislation comes in direct response to the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts.
Senate Bill 25-276 passed on a 22-13 vote and now heads to the House for consideration in the final weeks of the legislative session.
'The question of who actually gets to be an American, or who actually gets to be protected by the Constitution, is a matter of debate right now in this country and in this state. We've had conversations with teachers and with school districts that are concerned about students being too afraid to come to class and about parents being afraid to go to parent teacher conferences. We can do better than that,' said bill sponsor Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
The bill would prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from going into non-public spaces in jails, hospitals, schools and child care centers without a signed, valid warrant. An amendment on the Senate floor added libraries to that list of locations.
It also clarifies that local law enforcement cannot cooperate with ICE to land a person in custody through a detainer request by holding that person in jail beyond their ordered release without a warrant.
The bill also deals heavily with personally identifiable information, or data about a person that is not publicly available such as birthday, addresses, vehicle registration information and immigration status, which federal authorities might want access to in order to identify people to detain and deport. Local governments would not be allowed to share that type of information with ICE under the bill.
Additionally, immigrants would not need to sign an affidavit about their intention to pursue legal status in order to get a driver's license or in-state tuition.
'We're in unprecedented times, where people are being unjustly targeted, incarcerated, removed and deported, and we sit in a position where we might be able to push back and help out, to provide some sort of protection,' said Sen. Jessie Danielson, a Wheat Ridge Democrat. 'It is a terrifying time for a number of people I know, and for a lot of people I don't, and it doesn't take much for me to empathize with that.'
The bill comes three months into the second administration of President Donald Trump, who has followed through on a campaign promise to increase efforts to detain and remove immigrants who lack legal status. In Colorado, that has resulted in a series of highly-publicized immigration raids at a party in Adams County and residences in Denver and Aurora and in the detention of immigration rights activist Jeanette Vizguerra.
In addition to Gonzales, the bill is sponsored by Sen. Mike Weissman, an Aurora Democrat, Rep. Lorena Garcia, an Adams County Democrat, and Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, a Glenwood Springs Democrat.
Sen. Kyle Mullica, a Thornton Democrat, joined Republicans in opposition to the bill. Mullica said his vote was in response to a series of amendments offered during the final vote on Monday — usually amendments are considered during the initial debate and preliminary vote on a bill — and that he did not have sufficient time to read the amendments and consider their implications. One amendment on Monday, for example, clarified that SB-276 does not intend to ban the transfer of a person to and from federal custody if there is a valid warrant.
'This isn't a position in cement that I'm not willing to move,' he said. 'I want the opportunity to digest these amendments and see if there are any amendments that address potential concerns in the second chamber.'
If the House passes a version of the bill with other amendments, the Senate would need to sign off on those changes before the bill heads to the governor's desk for a signature.
Republicans argued that the bill interferes with federal policy and impedes legal ICE operations, going against the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution. The bill's passage would likely result in lawsuits, they said.
'This undermines federal immigration enforcement. The bill restricts cooperation between state, local entities and federal immigration authorities, potentially obstructing that of which is the province of the federal government — immigration laws,' said Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican.
Debate on the bill lasted an entire day last week as Republicans offered amendments that ultimately failed to block it. The bill is likely to face a similarly protracted discussion in the House if chamber leadership decides not to limit the length of debate.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Starmer and European allies travel to Washington with Zelensky for crunch talks
Sir Keir Starmer will join European leaders in presenting a united front with Volodymyr Zelensky at his crunch meeting at the White House with Donald Trump. The Prime Minister and six other political leaders will travel to Washington DC on Monday, with the aim of protecting Ukraine from having to submit to Russian land grabs as a price for peace. Those joining Sir Keir include France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz, Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Alexander Stubb, president of Finland. Nato chief Mark Rutte and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are also attending. Mr Zelensky is expecting to face calls from the US president to concede to full Russian control of Donetsk and Luhansk, two mineral-rich regions of Ukraine that are mostly occupied by Vladimir Putin's forces. In exchange for these demands, the Russian president would reportedly withdraw his forces from other areas of Ukraine and accept a Nato-like guarantee that Ukraine would be protected from further incursion. The European leaders have said it is up to Ukraine to decide how it wishes to end the war, and hailed Mr Zelensky's commitment to a peace that is both 'just and lasting'. Mr Trump has appeared to drop his calls for a ceasefire after a summit in Alaska with his Russian counterpart on Friday. Mr Putin has long refused to agree to a ceasefire as a precondition for talks to end the war, prompting fears that Russia could continue gaining ground in Ukraine as negotiations take place. The US president has instead said he wants to focus a long-term peace deal, though his secretary of state Marco Rubio has signalled a deal is 'still a long ways off'. There will be 'additional consequences' for Russia if it does not agree to a peace deal, Mr Rubio added, though he suggested fresh financial sanctions would be unlikely to force Mr Putin to the negotiating table. Ms von der Leyen suggested at a press conference on Sunday that both a ceasefire and a peace deal would have the same impact: to 'stop the killing'. Appearing alongside her, Ukraine's Mr Zelensky appeared to agree, though he also signalled his preference for a ceasefire. 'It's impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons. So it's necessary to cease fire and work quickly on a final deal,' he said. European leaders are also keen to hear from Mr Trump after he signalled he would provide a security guarantee to the coalition of the willing. The coalition, which is aimed at deterring future Russian aggression once peace is agreed, has argued it needs an American backstop, likely in the form of air support, to succeed. Over the weekend, Sir Keir was among the leaders who welcomed suggestions from Mr Trump that he was open to providing a guarantee, but details of what support would be provided were scant. Following a meeting of the coalition on Sunday afternoon, a Downing Street spokesman said Sir Keir praised Mr Zelensky's desire for a 'just and lasting peace' in Ukraine. Leaders of the coalition 'reaffirmed their continued support to Ukraine' at the meeting chaired by the PM and Mr Macron, No 10 added. The French president, meanwhile, said the European delegation will ask Mr Trump to back its plans to bolster Ukraine's armed forces. Ahead of their Oval Office encounter, the allies are likely to be mindful of the previous occasion Mr Zelensky visited Mr Trump in the White House. February's public spat, which saw Vice President JD Vance accuse Mr Zelensky of not being thankful enough to the US, resulted in American aid to Ukraine being temporarily halted.
CNN
18 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump gave China the AI chips it wanted. Beijing isn't saying thank you
In a surprising reversal of the United States' years-long technology restrictions on China, President Donald Trump last month allowed Nvidia to resume sales of a key AI chip designed specifically for the Chinese market. Yet rather than celebrating, Beijing's response has been noticeably lukewarm, despite having long urged Washington to ease the stringent export controls. In the weeks since the policy U-turn, Beijing has called the chip a security risk, summoned Nvidia for explanations and discouraged its companies from using it. The less-than-welcoming sentiment reflects Beijing's drive to build a self-sufficient semiconductor supply chain – and its confidence in the progress its rapidly advancing chip industry has made. But the cold shoulder may also represent some political posturing. Despite significant advances in its semiconductor sector, China still needs America's chips and technology. Experts said China's national champion Huawei has developed chips with performance comparable to — and in some cases surpassing — the newly approved Nvidia chip. However, China still wants the more advanced AI processors that remain blocked under US export controls. In the years since Trump first imposed tech restrictions on Huawei during his first term, China's chip technology has made significant strides, spurred by the frustration that mounted as Washington piled on export controls, said Xiang Ligang, director-general of a Beijing-based technology industry group and an advisor to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. 'We have this capability, it's not as they imagine – that if China is blocked, China won't be able to function, or that China will be finished,' he said. To him, the policy about-face only reflects the importance of having a wholly homegrown chip supply chain. 'For Chinese companies, we may only have one choice if we wish to ensure a relatively secure supply of chips – that means relying on our own domestically produced chips,' Xiang said. That may be China's goal, but in the high-stakes AI race, with all its national security implications, the US remains the leader, at least for now. The chip in focus is Nvidia's H20, which was released by the AI chip leader last year to maintain access to the Chinese market following strict export controls put in place under the Biden administration that stopped the export of chips with high processing power. Last month, Trump greenlit the sales of the chip to China after banning it in April as the US trade frictions with China deepened. Trump has justified his decision by calling the chip 'obsolete,' as it lags behind the company's cutting-edge AI processors like Blackwell or H100, from which H20 is derived. He and his officials appeared to have embraced a view long promoted by Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang – that US can maintain its tech leadership only through ensuring its chips remain the global standard. 'You want to sell the Chinese enough that their developers get addicted to the American technology stack,' Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said last month. But the dramatic reversal has fueled questions about Trump's transactional approach to national security – once considered off-limits to bargaining. China, on the other hand, is alarmed by the alleged security risks of Nvidia's H20s like 'tracking and positioning' and 'remote shutdown' features, capabilities that some US lawmakers have called for but Nvidia denies it has placed in its chips. China's cyberspace watchdog and industry ministry have since summoned the American chip giant over the security concerns and urged firms to avoid H20 chips, a development which was previously reported by Bloomberg. One major Chinese tech company which has developed its AI models has received notice from the authorities urging it to exercise caution in the use of H20s, and advising it not to purchase them, a company insider said on the condition of anonymity. CNN has reached out to the ministry and the cyberspace authorities for comment. An Nvidia spokesperson told CNN that NVIDIA 'does not have 'backdoors' in our chips that would give anyone a remote way to access or control them.' 'Banning the sale of H20 in China would only harm US economic and technology leadership with zero national security benefit,' the spokesperson added. But China believes the US isn't playing fairly, Xiang said. 'What we actually want, you refuse to sell us. For the things you already consider obsolete, you still want to dump them into our market and occupy our market. Do you really think we're that naive?' he said. Despite Beijing's concerns and the H20's reduced performance, the chips remain highly sought after by Chinese companies. Equity research firm Bernstein estimated that shipment of the chips to China this year would have reached 1.5 million units, or about 23 billion in revenue, without Trump's export restrictions. Major buyers include Chinese tech giants such as TikTok owner ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent. While Huawei's top AI chips excel in computing power – one of the key measures in evaluating processors' performance – in comparison with H20, they fall short in terms of memory bandwidth, which determines how much data can move between a chip's memory and computing unit. That bandwidth depends on a technology known as High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) used in AI chips to ensure efficient data transmission in AI model training. China's top HBM maker CXMT, or ChangXin Memory Technologies, is still about three to four years behind industry leaders like South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung, and American Micron, according to MS Hwang, research director at Counterpoint Research, a research firm. Last year, the Biden administration further tightened export controls on China, including restrictions on HBM sales, forcing Chinese companies to rely on existing stockpiles. Beijing has requested Washington to lift restrictions on HBM as part of the trade deal negotiations, Financial Times reported this week. Key appeal of H20 for Chinese companies also lies in Huawei's limited production capacity and Nvidia's well-established ecosystem, said Qingyuan Lin, senior analyst at Bernstein focusing China's semiconductor industry. 'Even when you want to completely replace the H20 demand with the local guys, they're not able to deliver the amount of chips that's needed,' he said. The supply bottlenecks stem from constraints in scaling up production of both the manufacturing of computing units of the AI chips and the integration of various components in them, a technology known as advanced packaging in the industry, Lin said. Bernstein estimated that Huawei's shipments of its advanced AI chips in 2025 would amount to around 700,000 units, still far short of the demand in the country. CNN has reached out to Huawei for comment. Meanwhile, Nvidia's powerful ecosystem, which integrates its chips with its software platform, has created what experts call a 'moat,' making it difficult and costly for AI developers who train models on its software to switch to alternatives. 'The H20 comes with a complete ecosystem covering both hardware and software support, ensuring better compatibility and ease of integration,' said Brady Wang, associate director at Counterpoint. 'This ecosystem maturity is still a challenge for many Chinese-developed chips, making the H20 more attractive despite its cost disadvantage.' Still, experts said China's rapid progress in semiconductor technology should not be underestimated. Years of tightening export controls have injected both urgency and opportunity into Beijing's push for self-sufficiency, Lin said. While chipmaking technology appeared to stall after Huawei's 2023 flagship smartphone showcased advanced chips that American officials had deemed extremely difficult to produce, domestic chipmaking equipment companies have been steadily gaining ground, he said. 'The local guys actually had very little chance to gain share from the global players because of the technology gap, but export controls created a market that didn't exist before and accelerated the domestic substitution,' he said. Bernstein projects that the percentage of homemade AI chips in China will surge from 17% in 2023 to 55% by 2027, while American suppliers like Nvidia and AMD will shrink to 45% from 83%. In April, Huang of Nvidia met with Trump in Washington, urging the administration to loosen export controls on chips and saying that the diffusion of American AI technology around the world needs to be accelerated. 'There's no question that Huawei is one of the most formidable technology companies in the world…they made enormous progress in the last several years,' he said. 'China is right behind us. We're very, very close.' CNN's Hassan Tayir and Fred He contributed reporting.
CNBC
18 minutes ago
- CNBC
Oil slips as Russia supply concerns ease after Trump-Putin meeting
Oil prices slipped in early Asian trade on Monday as the United States did not exert more pressure on Russia to end the Ukraine war by implementing further measures to disrupt Moscow's oil exports after presidents from both countries met on Friday. Brent crude futures dropped 32 cents, or 0.49%, to $65.53 a barrel by 2213 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $62.57 a barrel, down 23 cents. U.S. President Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday and emerged more aligned with Moscow on seeking a peace deal instead of a ceasefire first. Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders on Monday to strike a quick peace deal to end Europe's deadliest war in 80 years. "What was primarily in play were the secondary tariffs targeting the key importers of Russian energy, and President Trump has indeed indicated that he will pause pursuing incremental action on this front, at least for China," RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft said in a note. "The status quo remains largely intact for now," she said, adding that Moscow will not walk back on territorial demands while Ukraine and some European leaders will balk at the land-for-peace deal.
