Immigration laws in need of repair
Tough laws have taken a toll on legal workers while targeting illegal immigrants.
By CHARLES ASHBY
http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1187103138/3
CHIEFTAIN DENVER BUREAU

DENVER - The Colorado Legislature created the problem of scaring away migrant workers from the state, so the Legislature should fix it, some Southern Colorado lawmakers say.

In response to a package of stories published Sunday and Monday in The Pueblo Chieftain, several members of Southern Colorado's delegation to the General Assembly said they would look into ways to mitigate, if not outright fix, the unintended consequences created by a bevy of new laws approved last year during a special legislative session to crack down on illegal immigration.

Still, there isn't a lot that a single state can do to address what is by definition a national problem, the lawmakers agreed.

"The reason we passed all this immigration stuff is because the federal government didn't," Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, said. "I think we're going to end up trying to do something in reaction to the fact that we created this situation that has made Colorado one of the toughest states to be in illegally, but also legally."

Tapia said he's intrigued by an El Paso County Republican legislator's idea to help make sure the state's ranchers and farmers get at least some of the help they need to stay in business.

The idea, presented by freshman Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan, calls on the state, or a private firm contracted by the state, to help match migrant workers with Colorado employers.

Tapia said some groups already are doing that very thing, but on a limited basis.

The state's involvement could help mitigate the worker shortage problem caused by the new state immigration laws, which employers say have scared away legal workers in addition to undocumented ones.

"We have an obligation to make sure that legal people come here, and to promote legal immigration," Tapia said. "There's not a limit to the number of legal migrant workers you can bring in, except that the paperwork is horrendous."

That's why Looper is hoping Tapia will be her Senate sponsor to an idea she's working on, which calls on the state to help Colorado farmers use an existing federal program designed to bring migrant workers to the United States.

That guest-worker program, called H-2A, allows employers to apply for visas to bring in agriculture workers. But employers complain that the program is fraught with problems, is too expensive and doesn't always result in actual workers showing up at their doorstep.

"I know that we have a problem in Pueblo, we have a problem on the Western Slope, my sod farmers out here have some problems," Looper said. "We need workers. For those people who need agriculture help, I would like to work on something instead of just waiting for the feds to come around."

Still, Looper's idea is in its initial stage, and she's not sure it can be done in time to help farmers with next year's crop.

Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito, said Looper's idea is a good one, if only because it will get state government talking to their federal counterparts about addressing the most immediate problem: sending a message to legal migrant workers that it's OK to come to Colorado.

Gallegos said he's seen firsthand farmers having to cut back on their crops because of concerns they won't get the workers they need to pick them.

And since there's no indication that Congress will do what it didn't this year - pass a comprehensive immigration reform measure that boosts the federal guest-worker program - Gallegos said nothing should be off the table, including considering repealing some of the tough laws the Legislature passed last year.

"There's room for that," Gallegos said. "We rushed a little bit into passing them because all these numbers of (illegal workers) were coming across, and so many people were on the bandwagon about illegal immigration and the expense to the state. But like anything else, we can reform that law so that it makes sense."

Sen. Ken Kester, R-Las Animas, agreed, saying the measures not only scared off workers, but placed too much burden on employers by requiring them to verify their legal status.

"The farmers I've talked to said, ‘Hey, don't make policemen out of us and run our help off that we've had for years,’ â€