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Hickenlooper calls on SCOTUS to stand up, people to rise up against Trump
The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.
EAGLE, Colo. — Colorado U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to start holding Trump administration officials in contempt of court and “lock them up” if they refuse to comply with the court’s unanimous order to “facilitate” the return of a Maryland man wrongly deported to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador.
“The Supreme Court’s got to step up and say, ‘All right, we’re going to start holding people in contempt of court. They have the ability to sanction,” Hickenlooper said in an interview with Colorado Newsline. “They can take the people, the officials who deny any culpability or any responsibility, they can bring them in and force them to testify, to come to the court. And if they don’t come, they’re in contempt, and then you lock them up.”
Following a roundtable press event with local officials worried about what massive cuts to the federal workforce will mean for mountain towns surrounded by federally owned forests, Hickenlooper took a few questions from local and state media. He was told more than 30% of Eagle County is Latino, and that people are stressed, scared and deeply concernedabout President Donald Trump’s deportation policies that now appear to be targeting U.S. citizens.
Specifically, Hickenlooper was asked about Trump’s statements on Monday in a joint White House press conference with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in which Trump urged Bukele to build more prisons and told him “homegrowns are next” – a clear reference to U.S. citizens. Bukele reportedly replied, “all right,” which was greeted by laughter in the room.
“I did not think he meant citizens. I disagree with you,” Hickenlooper said in Eagle on Tuesday, but he was told by another reporter that Trump repeated the remarks on FOX News on Tuesday, emphasizing he means “homegrown criminals.”
“No, he wants to send U.S. citizens down to …?” Hickenlooper said. “Well, again, if this doesn’t get the Supreme Court in action, I don’t know what will. But obviously at a certain point, and we’re close to that point, the country’s going to rise up because there are certain things …”
A federal judge in Maryland on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to show evidence it has attempted to secure the release of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a brutal mega-prison in El Salvador, saying the current record shows “nothing has been done.”
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday launched proceedings to determine if Trump administration officials should face criminal charges over the case in his court, and in Colorado on Monday, a federal judge in Denver ordered the Trump administration not to deport any detainees held in Colorado under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
Hickenlooper, a former Democratic Denver mayor and Colorado governor, seemed to be well aware of the other circumstances surrounding the illegal deportation last month of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen living in Maryland who is married to a U.S. citizen, has a valid U.S. work permit, and has children who are U.S. citizens. Abrego Garcia was deported with hundreds of others using the legally questionable Alien Enemies Act.
“I agree that that’s the most hideous, heinous act I’ve seen, where you can take an innocent person, pick them up for the wrong reason … and they put him in one of the most dangerous, insect- and vermin-infested prisons in the Western Hemisphere,” Hickenlooper said. “That prison in El Salvador is notorious for how dangerous it is. And now they’re saying that they can’t get him out of there. I’m fully aware, and that will not stand. I cannot believe the Supreme Court’s going allow that to stand. I’m not sure what they’re going to do about it.”
Hickenlooper was then asked what the U.S. Senate can do about it.
“You want me to get my pitch fork?” Hickenlooper said. “The Senate, we don’t have a police force. Do you think we have a police force? We already have hearings planned and laid out on this stuff. We’ll shine a bright light on it.”
Hickenlooper said he understands the growing anger in the country directed at both the Republican party in power for its increasingly unpopular agenda on everything from immigration to the economy and Democrats who are being blamed for not putting up enough of a fight. He said he felt that anger personally at a town hall in Grand Junction Monday, where people were “pretty frustrated and pissed off.”
But Hickenlooper said 70 whistleblowers throughout the federal infrastructure are reporting every aspect of illegal action by the White House and up to 3,000 lawyers are either volunteering or being paid to litigate those accusations, with plaintiff winning at least two thirds of those cases.
“It’s going to be a battle. It’s going to be a war,” Hickenlooper said. “And the only real leverage that we have as a Congress in a constitutional democracy is to have people rise up. What I said to the group last night is, ‘You’ve got to organize.’ I said to the group here [in Eagle], ‘You’ve got to organize. You’ve got to demonstrate, you’ve got to march, you have to rise up.’ No senator shows up and says, ‘Hey, come watch me.’ That’s not going to change anything.”
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has been drawing massive crowds around the country for his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both last month in Denver and more recently in deep-red Idaho.
As part of the National Hands Off Day of Action protests, a local rally will be held from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday in the Edwards roundabout.
Looking ahead to 2026 elections
Hickenlooper said Democrats must focus on retaking the U.S. House of Representatives next year. Asked why he endorsed Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, a fellow Democrat, in his race to replace term-limited Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in the governor’s mansion in 2026, Hickenlooper said Bennet has always been in his camp.
“Michael Bennett was one of the three or four first people who told me I should run for mayor … said people like you should be in politics,” Hickenlooper said. “He wrote me the first check and he grew up in Washington. He knows how politics works at a level I don’t. He was my first chief of staff. I wouldn’t have been the success that I became without his help. I owe him.”
Pressed on whether term-limited Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who was the first to get into the governor’s race back in January, would be a better choice because of his success suing the Trump administration, Hickenlooper had kind words for the AG.
“Phil Weiser is without question one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with,” Hickenlooper said. “I called Phil and I told him, ‘I’m going to endorse Michael Bennet.’ That does not reflect any lack of trust and belief in all that he’s done. Everywhere I go … people are telling me that Phil Weiser did this, Phil Weiser that, Phil Weiser did this over here. I think it’s going to be a real hard race.”
When it was suggested Weiser should maybe seek Bennet’s Senate seat, Hickenlooper laughed and said, “Bring him on.”
“The challenge will be to make sure that election stays positive,” he added. “When Michael first asked me whether he should [run for governor] — he told me he was thinking about this a month ago — I said, ‘I think you’d be bored.’ I mean, Michael Bennet’s a deep thinker. He is one of the smartest, most strategic people I know, that I’ve ever worked with. And I think he’ll be a great governor. I think I’m proof that you don’t have to have a lot of genius to be considered a great governor.”
Bennet plans to stay in the U.S. Senate up through the 2026 election, at which point he will be able to select his replacement in Washington if he wins the governor’s race or stay in the Senate if he were to lose. Hickenlooper is running for reelection in 2026 and just reported more than $1 million raised in the first quarter of 2025, bringing his total campaign war chest to $2.24 million.
Editor’s note: A version of this story first appeared on Colorado Newsline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com.
David O. Williams
