Arizona-Style Immigration Bills Threaten Colorado Ski Tourism, Says Official

Published February 08, 2011


If new anti-immigrant laws are passed in Colorado, they would damage the state's ski industry that attracts ever-growing numbers of Mexican and Brazilian tourists.

Colorado Ski Country, U.S.A., Inc., representing 22 resorts, said in a recent report that Mexico and Brazil have become two of the leading countries from which skiers come to the state.

CSCUSA president Melanie Mills expressed concern at the potential impact of anti-immigrant bills currently being studied in the state legislature.

Mills was referring to SB11-054, sponsored by Sen. Kent Lambert (R-Colorado Springs), which would authorize local police to arrest anyone they have "probable cause" to think is undocumented.

"If you're in the business of putting out the welcome mat for foreign visitors, it doesn't help if you create an environment of suspicion," Mills said, while acknowledging that Lambert's bill is unlikely to become law.

Every year almost 12 million skiers come to Colorado, generating some $2.6 billion yearly for the state's economy, according to information provided to Efe by CSCUSA spokesperson Jennifer Rudolph.

SB11-054 and 10 other similar bills introduced into the Colorado legislature will make the situation worse and will harm the state's convention and tourism business, Mills contends.

The wording of the bills is so vague it is not clear what criteria the local police and highway patrol will use to determine if people are immigrants or not, and if they are, whether they have their papers in order, she said.

"We have to question how officers will make the determination that someone is illegal. Is it speaking a foreign language? Or wearing a different style of jacket?," Mills asked rhetorically.
Christian Rubi, a Mexican resident of Denver, brings dozens of groups of Hispanic tourists each year to the principal skiing resorts in western Colorado. But his work could be impeded or severely restricted if the state legislature passes these new anti-immigrant laws.

"Three years ago I brought some of my relatives from Mexico, who had never been to the mountains before and who enjoyed a day of skiing. Last year they came back with more relatives and friends. And this year just that group numbered more than 30 people," Rubi told Efe.

"Tourists come to enjoy themselves, not to be afraid they'll be stopped on the highway. And if the bills now being debated are approved, I'm sure that both Mexican tourists and who many who live in Colorado will think twice before going to the mountains.

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