Boulder HRC discusses supporting immigrant communities and sharing DA/BPD 'know your rights' resources

Commissioners discussed ways the Human Relations Commission can support immigrant and Latinx residents amid concerns about immigration enforcement activity. The conversation centered on dissemination of verified materials and community outreach rather than providing legal advice.

Commissioner Emily said the Boulder County district attorney, Matthew Doherty, has published summaries and guidance about local law-enforcement cooperation with federal agencies; she suggested the DA's materials could be presented at an HRC meeting or distributed via a webinar. "I'm curious if there is someone locally we could tap to either come to our meeting and speak, and then we distribute the recordings among our communities," she said.

Staff members noted two publicly available resources already in the meeting chat: updated DA "know your rights" PDFs in English and Spanish and the Boulder Police Department's web page with frequently asked questions. Christian and Elizabeth encouraged commissioners to share those resources in their networks. Emily and others also pointed to bilingual community groups such as the Colorado Rapid Response Network as a way to provide real-time, verified updates and a bilingual hotline to report potential incidents.

Commissioners agreed the HRC can responsibly circulate publicly available information and help point residents toward verified hotlines and events; staff offered to post materials and follow up on possible speakers. The HRC emphasized caution about spreading unverified, community-sourced maps; commissioners raised a concern that false reports can create panic and urged confirmation before wide distribution.

What's next: Staff will circulate the DA PDFs and BPD links and consider inviting a local expert or hosting a webinar to provide verified information to community members.