By Quentin Young | editor
“Our community has been outraged by the conditions in these holding facilities and in these detention centers.”
— Colorado Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, on ICE
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Aurora, operated by private prison firm GEO Group, is pictured on Jan. 30, 2025. (Photo by Chase Woodruff/Colorado Newsline)
By Shalina Chatlani
Concerned about conditions in federal immigrant detention facilities but often barred from entering them, some Democratic-led states such as Colorado are fighting to enforce their own health and safety standards at the sites. The Trump administration, citing the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, argues that states don’t have the authority to regulate federal facilities. But states counter that because the federal government has contracted with private companies to operate the sites, they have the right to make sure those companies follow state health and safety rules.
Michael Fields, president of Advance Colorado, attends an election watch party in Aurora, Nov. 7, 2023. (Photo by Kevin Mohatt for Colorado Newsline)
COMMENTARY
By Quentin Young
In Colorado, “citizen” too often means a secretive group of rich conservatives out to reshape state law in their image, writes Newsline’s Quentin Young in a commentary. The group, Advance Colorado, uses the citizen initiative process to put right-wing ballot measures before voters, who might not see through dumbed-down language or misleading campaigns. It has warped an expression of direct democracy into an oligarchic veto on democracy, and it threatens to do lasting damage in the state.
A Treasure Coast Community Health Center clinician in Florida conducts a dental exam on a child. Four in 10 pediatricians surveyed by researchers at the American Academy of Pediatrics report immigrant families retreating from healthcare for their kids amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. (Photo courtesy of Treasure Coast Community Health Center)
By Nada Hassanein
Four in 10 pediatricians reported kids in immigrant families are avoiding coming in for healthcare out of concerns around immigration status, according to a new survey published Tuesday. More than 1,600 pediatricians responded between April and June to the survey by American Academy of Pediatrics researchers. The American Academy of Pediatrics said the findings are likely an undercount and that more children are likely going without care.
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