Following a question from a student that prompted a standing ovation and outbursts from the crowd, Senator John Hickenlooper told attendees to “take a deep breath” at a town hall meeting held at UCCS.
The town hall on April 17 focused on the federal transition and its impact on Colorado Springs citizens. Attendees asked Hickenlooper about Trump-administration immigration and military policies.
“I know these are especially hard times, and are disorienting, and I don’t think I’ve slept a full night in the past three or four months,” said Hickenlooper. “I recognize with great clarity that our country is being changed radically before our eyes.”
Immigration
Multiple attendees brought up the Trump administration’s immigration decisions, including the deportation of American citizen Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to an El Salvadorian prison.
“Abducting and sending an innocent American citizen to a hell hole on Earth is more chilling than anything I have ever experienced in my life,” Hickenlooper said, referring to the violent conditions of the maximum-security prison.
Hickenlooper said the abduction of American citizens is wrong, and the Trump administration’s ignoring of the Supreme Court’s ruling that Garcia’s deportation was illegal is a “constitutional crisis.”
One attendee received a standing ovation: “What are you going to do to protect people like me from unlawful detainment? They don’t care if I have a birth certificate tattooed on my forehead,” he said. “I do not want to hear about bipartisan relationships with dictators, I want my officials to throw sand in the gears of the government.”
Veteran Affairs
Two audience members asked about President Trump’s plans to relocate Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama. Hickenlooper disagreed with Trump’s idea, saying that the relocation would not save the Department of Defense money as the Trump administration has alleged.
“We need to have space command at full operating capacity as we have for the past 18 months,” Hickenlooper said. “It would cost $2 billion to move and build space command in Alabama; there is no reasonable explanation to do so.”
Students can learn about the impact of the federal transitions on a university level here.
Senator John Hickenlooper. Archive photo courtesy of Denver7.