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Representative Noquita Ricks, a refugee-turned-lawmaker, outlines immigrant-focused bills and paths to protect newcomers
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Summary
At a League of Women Voters Colorado virtual event, Rep. Noquita Ricks described fleeing Liberia, recounted her route into Colorado politics and detailed two immigration bills she is sponsoring: the "Safety Not Status" measure (facilitating internships via ITIN-based background checks) and a documents bill to limit employers holding workers' passports.
Representative Noquita Ricks told attendees at a League of Women Voters Colorado virtual event that her experience fleeing Liberia’s 1980 coup shaped her work in the Colorado General Assembly.
"As a former refugee myself, I understand the firsthand the courage that it takes to, you know, start all over," Ricks said, describing armed soldiers who forced her family from their home and the family's eventual move to the United States.
Ricks, who represents House District 40 in southeast Aurora, framed that personal history as the reason she is advancing immigrant-centered legislation this session. She cited three items she’s worked on in previous years — an immigration defense fund to expand legal representation in deportation and asylum cases, a 2023 restriction on state law-enforcement cooperation with ICE, and a pair of bills active this session.
One bill, commonly discussed as "Safety Not Status," would allow institutions to use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to run background checks so students and trainees without Social Security numbers can access unpaid internships and clinical placements required for certification in health fields. Ricks said the bill has cleared an initial committee and is under review at appropriations for a fiscal note connected to university-administered background checks. "There is no direct fiscal impact to the general fund," she said, adding that a campus-level cost had been estimated around $100,000 while hospitals and universities work to share or absorb the expense.
Ricks described a separate documents bill aimed at preventing employers or sponsors from retaining workers' passports and immigration papers beyond brief processing needs. "So this bill will make it illegal for people to take your documents for no more than 8 hours only to do paperwork," Ricks said, arguing the measure would reduce exploitative situations in agriculture and some service industries where employees' papers are sometimes held.
Moderators and League volunteers asked several implementation questions: whether ITIN-based background checks could expose people to federal enforcement, and whether fingerprinting or biometric checks would be required for certain safety-sensitive positions. Ricks said the ITIN route avoids requiring a Social Security number (which undocumented people typically lack) and that fingerprint-based checks provide biometric tracking for roles where safety demands it.
The session included follow-up requests and logistical notes: participants asked for bill identifiers and where the measures stood in committee. Multiple bill numbers were mentioned in the chat during the meeting; Ricks and League members acknowledged some inconsistency in the numbers cited and offered to provide clarified bill identifiers after the session.
Why it matters: advocates at the event said the bills aim to reduce barriers to professional training and protect workers from exploitation, while opponents in committee have questioned whether state law can address practices tied to federal immigration enforcement.
Ricks closed by thanking the League for their work on voter engagement and said she would follow up with more detailed answers for attendees on outstanding questions about committee actions and detention-center oversight.
