http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-colorado12jul12,0,5499604.story?coll=la-home-headlines
From the Los Angeles Times
Immigration Hard-Liners on a High
In Colorado, Democrats boast of helping pass restrictions on those in the
U.S. illegally.
By Nicholas Riccardi
Times Staff Writer
July 12, 2006
DENVER The passage of 11 anti-illegal immigrant measures by a special
session of the Colorado Legislature this week is just the latest sign that
momentum in the volatile debate is on the side of hard-liners.
Earlier this year, immigrant-rights groups were encouraged when the
Democratic-controlled Legislature rejected several bills that party leaders
characterized as extremist. Spring featured the largest political rallies
Colorado had ever seen, as 75,000 immigrants and their supporters marched
in front of the state Capitol demanding amnesty.
But late Monday, the Colorado Legislature approved a ban on nonemergency
state services to adults who fail to prove they are in the country legally,
a measure modeled on a broader law that Georgia adopted in April. Democrats
here began boasting that their measure was the toughest in the nation.
"This is tough, effective, enforceable and practical," said Democrat Andrew
Romanoff, speaker of the Colorado Assembly.
Also satisfied was Fred Elbel, director of Defend Colorado Now, who had
clashed with Democrats over a ballot measure to restrict benefits to
illegal immigrants. "We're helping set a precedent where states will step
in and deal with a problem the federal government won't solve," he said.
The Colorado legislation, along with tough anti-illegal immigration bills
passed in other states, has unnerved activists.
"It's a sad day for Colorado when our Democratic majority Legislature brags
about new laws that would lead to people being cut off from aid," said Bill
Vandenberg of the Colorado Progressive Coalition.
"Every election year needs a scapegoat, and this year
it's beating up on
illegal immigrants," said Vandenberg, who helped organize the immigrant
marches.
In Washington, Congress is divided over immigration. The House of
Representatives passed a border enforcement-only bill that includes a
700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Senate bill includes
enforcement measures, but also a guest worker program that would provide a
path to citizenship for many of the 12 million illegal immigrants in the
country. Polls have shown the population is similarly divided over illegal
immigration, but that hard-liners are more motivated.
That appears to be borne out in statehouses, where more than 400
anti-illegal immigration measures were proposed this year. The vast
majority failed, but at least a dozen states passed bills targeting illegal
immigration. Louisiana approved a law stiffening penalties for businesses
that hire illegal immigrants. Wyoming barred students in the U.S. illegally
from receiving some scholarships, while Missouri denied unemployment
benefits to workers who weren't citizens. And states such as Pennsylvania
and Maryland are considering benefit cuts modeled on those in Colorado and
Georgia, which are the most far-reaching.
State lawmakers engage in largely symbolic actions when they pass those
cuts because federal law already prohibits illegal immigrants from getting
public aid, said Tanya Broder, an Oakland-based attorney at the National
Immigration Law Center. "They're sending a message to constituents that
they're doing something about illegal immigration," she said.
Broder said the main effect of the Colorado law would be to discourage
people, such as legal immigrants, from applying for government aid.
Momentum is clearly building for such measures, Broder added. "I'm getting
more calls from people in other states saying there's more pressure, not
only from Republicans but from Democrats."
Democratic State Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald smiled widely when a
reporter said at a news conference Tuesday morning that "you're now the
party of 'tough on immigration.' "
Fitz-Gerald joked to the press corps: "Thank you, did you all get that?"
She and Romanoff, however, denied that they had compromised their party's
beliefs.
"We were not railroaded into passing anything that betrayed our
principles," Romanoff said, noting that Democrats killed a number of
stiffer anti-illegal immigrant measures proposed by Republicans.
Democrats were forced into the special session by a confluence of political
forces. The state Supreme Court last month struck from the November ballot
the measure backed by Defend Colorado Now. Republican Gov. Bill Owens, who
has a reputation as an immigration moderate, demanded that the Legislature
convene and put the measure back on the ballot.
Democrats resisted, pointing out that they had passed bills on illegal
immigration in the regular session, such as stiffer penalties for
human-traffickers. But they gave in after political pressure escalated:
Republicans hammered them for being soft on illegal immigration. Some
political analysts warned the Democrats they could lose their legislative
majority over the issue. The party's candidate for governor, Atty. Gen.
Bill Ritter, had to dodge a barrage of attack ads from his GOP rival.
The attacks continued during the special session, when an anti-illegal
immigrant group made recorded calls bashing Democrats on the issue.
Most Republicans wanted to place the benefit cut on the fall ballot because
they thought it could help them retake the statehouse. Instead, some joined
with Democrats to pass the bill denying nonemergency benefits, such as
Medicare and unemployment insurance, to adults who can't prove they are in
Colorado legally. It creates a maximum 18-month jail term for falsifying
documents and, like the Georgia legislation, exempts treatment for
communicable diseases.
During the five-day session, which began Thursday, the Legislature also
passed a bill requiring employers to demonstrate their workers are in the
country legally. Legislators made it a felony to knowingly vote illegally.
Owens has 30 days to sign the legislation.
Lawmakers also placed on the November ballot two measures: One would bar
employers from receiving state tax breaks if they hired illegal immigrants,
and another would allow the state attorney general to sue the federal
government to force compliance with immigration laws.
About 1 million Coloradans will be required to prove their legal residence
to get benefits when the law takes effect Aug. 1, state officials said.
Though some Democrats insisted that the benefit cut was mainly symbolic,
immigrant advocates said it would increase fear in the community. "More
people are going to be staying away from [medical] clinics, staying away
from calling police when they really need to," said Kristen Sharp, an
organizer with Padres Unidos, a group of immigrant parents of schoolchildren.
That has already happened in Georgia, where the benefit cut, coupled with
stiff employment sanctions, won't take effect until July 2007. Some real
estate agents report that Latino interest in buying homes has dipped;
fearing they might lose their jobs, illegal immigrants are becoming wary of
making such commitments.
State Sen. Chip Rogers, the author of Georgia's law, was not surprised his
measure was the framework for Colorado's approach. "This is really not a
partisan issue," said Rogers, a Republican. "If you look at polling data,
you'll see that the American people across the board understand the
seriousness of the issue."
The politician most identified with harsher immigration laws, U.S. Rep. Tom
Tancredo (R-Colo.), said the move by local Democrats showed how politicians
must take hard stands on illegal immigration to win elections. He said:
"They're all trying to out-Tancredo Tancredo."
Times staff writer Richard Fausset in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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