Work and Poverty

Surge in Colorado deportations points to national increase in enforcement actions

Recent data shows that Colorado and Wyoming saw a 7 percent increase in deportations of undocumented immigrants in 2007, but the information should come as no surprise because the federal government has been dramatically stepping up enforcement actions, including worksite raids and criminal prosecutions.

Emerging Latino community stirs need for bilingual poll workers

With a lengthy state ballot and expected lines at the polls, Denver officials say they are working to make sure that on Election Day every voting precinct in the city has at least one bilingual poll worker to assist those who may not speak English. There is a specific emphasis on Spanish speakers.

Labor mobilizing massive get out the vote drive for Obama

Now that registration drives are over, unions in Colorado and across the country are working to make sure that voters actually show up to the polls.

Elections bureaucracy jeopardizes half of homeless voter registrations

Homeless people who registered to vote in Colorado risk being ejected from voter rolls if they don’t pick up a confirmation letter sent by their county clerk. The problem has less to do with partisan politics than with the nature of homelessness and the complexities of life without a permanent address. In any case, advocates estimate only about half of homeless people cast their vote.

Ad hammers Schaffer over Abramoff ties, sweatshop ‘investigation’

A campaign finance watchdog group unleashed a brutal attack on Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer on Tuesday, charging the former congressman with defending sweatshop operators at the behest of lobbyist Jack Abramoff in an ad set to air on Denver television stations. Campaign Money Watch also called on Schaffer to provide evidence for repeated claims he caused a sweatshop to shut down after his junket to the U.S. protectorate in the South Pacific.

Obama’s Colorado speech: Golden moments and lumps of coal

Barack Obama’s speech in Golden on Tuesday — live-blogged by The Colorado Independent’s Naomi Zeveloff — is already getting notice in the national press as signaling a prominent shift from Palin-era distractions to a bare-knuckle fight over the economy.

Conservative groups slam Ken Salazar for his “war on the poor” energy policy

Colorado Senator Ken Salazar, as well as other high-ranking Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate, have come under fire from conservative groups claiming that Salazar’s energy policies hurt poor Americans.

Denver’s homeless motel guests increasing

It’s a well-known fact that Denver’s ramshackle motels host some of the city’s most needy families. But just how many families live in temporary motel housing is impossible to say. During the summer months, the city typically doles out around 16 vouchers each day, which are redeemable at 16 motels. But the number of homeless families crashing along Colfax Avenue, Broadway and Colorado Boulevard is likely much higher. And it’s a hard figure to pin down.

No vacancy: DNC may displace Denver homeless

Convention-goers in search of lodging at next week’s Democratic National Convention may inadvertently squeeze homeless people out of temporary motel rooms.

Homeless families in Denver often board in the city’s most iconic and dilapidated motels along Colfax Avenue, Broadway and Colorado Boulevard when the shelters are full. But with the DNC quickly approaching, some motels are already booked or have raised prices in anticipation of better-to-do guests. Denver’s homeless officials worry that some families will be left to stay on the streets.

‘Latte Index’ serves as tepid consumer economic indicator

Our Washington Independent colleague Mary Kane may be on to something …
An unofficial measure of what’s going on with the economy is the Latte Index, or trends in discretionary spending when it comes to Starbucks. When people cut back on pricey, frothy coffee drinks they probably didn’t need in the first place, the theory goes, [...]