Sorting out immigration law in Colorado: document trail, decision sequencing, and what deserves review first

The San Luis Valley in southern Colorado is the oldest continuously inhabited European-settled region of what is now the United States west of the Mississippi River. Spanish colonizers established communities here before Colorado was a US territory — the town of San Luis, founded in 1851, is Colorado's oldest town. The region's Hispanic and Latino population traces ancestry not to immigration but to treaty-defined citizenship transfers: after the Mexican-American War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) provided that Mexican citizens residing in ceded territories (including what became Colorado) could elect US citizenship. San Luis Valley communities like Alamosa, Monte Vista, and Antonito have maintained continuous Hispanic cultural presence for generations. Today, the San Luis Valley's agricultural economy (potatoes, lettuce, barley, quinoa) employs both multigenerational Hispanic families and newer immigrant workers — H-2A seasonal agricultural visa holders and undocumented workers who perform the harvesting and processing labor. Alamosa County, Costilla County, and Conejos County are among Colorado's lowest-income counties, and access to immigration legal services in the San Luis Valley is limited.

Colorado's two landmark pro-immigrant policies distinguish it from neighboring states: the Colorado ASSET Act (2013, C.R.S. § 23-7-110) granting in-state tuition at Colorado colleges and universities to undocumented students who meet Colorado residency requirements; and HB 13-1176 (2013), which created a special category of Colorado driver's license (colloquially called the CDSL — Colorado Driver's License for non-immigrants) available to undocumented Colorado residents. The CDSL looks different from the standard Colorado license — it is marked "NOT FOR FEDERAL IDENTIFICATION" and is not REAL ID-compliant — but it allows undocumented Coloradans to legally drive, obtain automobile insurance, and register vehicles. Colorado became one of the first states to enact such legislation, preceding several states that subsequently followed Colorado's model.