Remember Ken Salazar? The former U.S. interior secretary, former Colorado U.S. senator, onetime Colorado attorney general and proud native son of the historic San Luis Valley was as close as you can get to being a political heavyweight in our state. Until President Joe Biden appointed him U.S. ambassador to Mexico in 2021. That’s when Ken Salazar vanished.

Just like that, he dropped off the radar – and his disappearance couldn’t have come at a worse time. There is a refugee crisis on our nation’s nearly 2,000-mile border with Mexico, and Salazar’s home state as well as the rest of the nation really could use his help right now.

He is, after all, our country’s point man in Mexico City – the president’s pick as the face and voice of U.S. policy. Yet, our repeated attempts to reach out to Salazar have met with stony silence.

Our country is reeling from the crush of humanity amassing along the border and streaming across it. Colorado isn’t feeling the blows to the same degree as Texas and other border states – not yet, at least – but our state is very much in the thick of it.

As The Gazette reported this week, refugees from the southern border continue to turn up in Denver, with more than 200 arriving over last holiday weekend. Since Dec. 9, nearly 3,000 of them – believed to be fleeing central and South America – have made it to Denver. Those tallies come from Denver City Hall, which has been relying on a system of emergency shelters to support the newcomers. The city has spent nearly $2 million so far responding to the influx, and it has received $1.5 million from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

In other words, this is very much a Colorado crisis, costing Colorado tax dollars and having a day-to-day impact on Coloradans. Which means our state’s political leadership no longer can afford to dismiss it as a problem for border states. It is affecting our state in a very real way.

True, enforcement is ultimately a matter for the federal government and president. But Colorado’s leadership has a greater stake than ever in demanding the feds take swift action.

In fellow Coloradan Salazar, our state’s political luminaries arguably have the opportunity – the leverage – to make it happen.

Of course, not all of them are up to the task. Colorado U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, unsurprisingly, have shrunk away from the issue in general.

That’s why we turn to Gov. Jared Polis. He has the status, the cred and the skin in the game needed to call for federal action. And Polis’ first step should be to call Salazar.

The ambassador may be hiding from us, but can he really hide from his home state’s governor?

Polis need only tell Salazar about Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s frustration on the issue, as expressed in The Gazette the other day. Hancock said Denver is reaching a breaking point; that it and other U.S. cities are bearing “the brunt” of the crisis. Hancock blamed a broken immigration system – yes, Hancock, the mayor of a “sanctuary city”! – and he called on Congress and the White House to respond. In a nutshell, Hancock made the case.

Colorado and all of America urgently need federal intervention, and a strategy, to secure our nation’s southern border and address the fate of the refugees who are pouring in. We cannot wait any longer.

A call from our governor could make a big difference.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board