The Lauren Boebert factor: Facing some facts
Re: “Why was Lauren Boebert such a jerk to CPR’s Ryan Warner?” Sept. 29 commentary
In condemning Rep. Lauren Boebert’s poor behavior, Megan Schrader minimizes some important facts and data.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has a lot of encounters with people attempting to enter the country illegally. CBP encounters are defined as “any encounter of a removable noncitizen” by CBP or U.S. Border Patrol — in other words, interactions with someone who is not supposed to be in the country. CBP has recorded nearly 9 million such encounters along the Southwest Land Border since Fiscal Year 2021, many illegal entrants evade CBP detection entirely.
In June 2024, Border Patrol recorded 88,612 total encounters along the Southwest Land Border, 83,536 of which were between ports of entry. Under Title 8 of US Code, it is illegal to cross the U.S. border between ports of entry. Lawful asylum seekers need to apply at a port of entry. Illegal entry is punishable by a fine or jail time, or both. Though asylum seekers receive temporary legal status while their claims are evaluated, an asylum claim doesn’t invalidate prior illegal entry into the country.
President Biden’s June Presidential Proclamation on Securing the Border further stressed the importance of lawful asylum processes by generally revoking asylum eligibility for those who enter the country illegally.
It’s also worth noting that U.S. Embassies are not ports of entry and publicly available CPB encounter data is tracked nationwide, not worldwide.
Travis Reed, Denver
I appreciate Megan Schrader’s synopsis of Ryan Warner’s interview of Lauren Boebert. Schrader closes with, “Mean and angry must just be who Boebert really is.”
I am not sure if Boebert really is mean and angry, but I have seen overwhelming evidence of her shocking lack of knowledge on a wide variety of issues, such as manners and basic decency toward many of her fellow citizens, including the president. I have to assume that, like a handful of others who have managed to capture the public eye in recent years, she uses anger and blaming to distract conversations and incite chaos and vitriol in order to try to hide her staggeringly subpar intellect and work ethic. And I’m not sure if this is to her credit or not, but like in so many other areas, she’s not very good at it.
Who and what Boebert really is is anyone’s guess. But especially in times like these, Colorado deserves better representation in Congress. We can do so much better than Boebert.
Richard Argys, Westminster
Questioning the Rocky Flats refuge funding concerns
Re: “Council pulls out of access project,” Sept. 29 news story
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Westminster’s decision to not provide funds to help access Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge is nonsensical, if not cynical. The city’s Westminster Hills Open Space is on the east side of Indiana Street, a few feet from the boundary of the former nuclear bomb factory. Assuming there is a serious threat from plutonium or other radioactive material emanating from Rocky Flats — and there has been only one soil sample that indicates any concern — the threat would be present on Westminster’s open space property due to the ferocious westerly winds, which would carry radioactive contaminants across Indiana Street onto Westminster’s property.
If, as Westminster Councilman Obi Ezeadi asserts, the city has a “moral obligation” to not provide funding because people hiking or biking in the area for a few hours may be exposed to radioactive contamination, it must also have the moral obligation to close Westminster Hills Open Space to any visitors. If the fear of impacts to human health from radioactive material is so serious, then Westminster may also want to help pay to relocate the hundreds of people who have recently bought homes around the perimeter of Rocky Flats.
Ronald L. Rudolph, Golden
Candidates should go all in on child care concerns
As we approach the upcoming election, it is imperative that candidates up and down the ballot prioritize child care.
The average cost of child care for two kids is now higher than the average cost of rent in all 50 states, pushing 40% of families with young children into debt. Here in Colorado, infant care is more expensive than college tuition. For my family with two kids, we are spending more than $30,000 annually just on child care, forcing us to make hard trade-offs that impact our well-being, mental health, careers and education possibilities.
During this election season, we hear candidates talk about putting families first, but we need real policy solutions that ensure that families like mine aren’t forced to make impossible choices between caring for our families and putting food on the table.
This shouldn’t be a partisan issue: 89% of voters want candidates to have a plan to help working parents afford high-quality child care, underscoring the broad, bipartisan support for addressing the child care crisis.
I urge presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump to commit to prioritizing child care in their first 100 days if elected. It’s time for our leaders to answer moms across the country who are calling for affordable, accessible, and quality child care. Our families, businesses, and our children’s futures all depend on it.
Megha Agrawal, Boulder
Tax rate won’t encourage visits to Denver
Re: “Voters face 2 tax increase questions,” Sept. 29 news story
Denver voters, can you, for once, show some fiscal restraint and defeat the two ballot measures that would raise the total sales tax to 9.65%? Outsiders who come into the city want no part of paying nearly one dollar in sales tax per $10 in purchases at Denver restaurants and sports/entertainment venues.
Dave Larison, Longmont
Tax measure is the right Rx for Denver Health
Did you know that the services our neighbors rely on, like emergency care, pediatric annual visits, and mental health services, are in jeopardy due to the financial crises Denver Health is facing?
As pediatricians, we recognize the important role Denver Health plays in providing critical services to children and their families. This is why we are asking for your support in the upcoming ballot. Please vote “yes” on the 2Q Denver Health ballot measure when you vote on (or before) November 5th to help ensure kids in our community have a place to go when they are sick.
Denver Health cares for nearly 25% of Denver’s population annually; one in every three babies born in Denver each year is born at Denver Health. Denver Health is a pillar of our community and its patients need our support. Ballot measure 2Q would increase the sales tax in Colorado by 0.34% (excluding food, medicine, diapers, and feminine hygiene products). This is approximately 3 cents per $10 purchase. This would have a substantial impact for Denver Health, helping to fund pediatric care, emergency care, mental health, and more.
Last year, Denver Health served nearly 300,000 people, with 1.3 million outpatient visits. If you live in Denver, regardless of who you are – young or old, healthy or sick – you deserve health care that’s close to home. To ensure our community and families can all get the care we need when we are sick, please vote “yes” to ballot measure 2Q.
Ashley Hollo, PJ Tran and Alice Burgess, Denver
Editor’s note: Hollo and Burgess are representing the Colorado Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, not necessarily the views of their employers.
Negligence, not laws, the danger to pregnant women
Re: “Abortion bans killed Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller,” Sept. 29 commentary
It is unfortunate that The Denver Post made the decision to highlight an article originally from ProPublica that reflected abortion industry propaganda rather than ethical journalism.
There is no moral, legal or medical ambiguity in the tragic story of Amber Thurman. She was one of the 5% of women with an unsuccessful medical abortion. She had retained fetal/placental tissue, which became infected. The treatment is straightforward and has never been prohibited by abortion restrictions in any state, ever. She received antibiotics but required urgent evacuation of the uterus by aspiration – sometimes referred to as a D&C. Her medical team was negligent and didn’t pursue curative therapy until it was too late.
ProPublica assumed that the hesitation of the medical team was related to abortion restrictions, which is simply preposterous and an example of an unethical journalist exploiting a tragedy to advance an ideology. They conflate a D&C after fetal demise with an elective-induced abortion D&C. The headline for the story should have been “Another death from complications of medical abortion.”
Misinformation regarding the risks and management of medical abortions and not abortion restrictions are leading to the deaths of women.
Tom Perille, Englewood
Abortion amendment: Coloradans will decide
Re: “Tragic loss doesn’t justify supporting abortion amendment,” Sept. 24 letter to the editor
Let’s not split hairs. Yes, Amendment 79 allows abortion. No, it won’t mean millions of dollars will go to pay for it. Yes, teenagers are women too and deserve the respect to call their own shots on their health care. Yes, it will allow all women to make their own decisions. How demeaning it is to write that as if you are a child that needs restraining. That is what the majority of Coloradans seem to want. Let’s make it legal. Abortion is medical care. A letter writer’s comments about other’s health care is none of her business. Note that she never suggested a male alternative. She should vote, as the rest of us will. Simple as that.
Sue Cole, Centennial
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