Tragedy may spur legislation
But some push for closing loopholes in current laws
By Burt Hubbard, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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Immigration and crimes by illegal immigrants may once again take center stage in the legislature in light of the Francis Hernandez case.

Republican lawmakers vowed Tuesday to propose a package of bills in 2009 to crack down on crimes by people who are in the country illegally.

However, the Democratic Party leadership said closing loopholes and better enforcement of existing laws should be the top priorities.

"Lawmakers can pat themselves on the back, fattening the statutes, holding press conferences or making noise," said state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver. "But the real test is does all that work actually solve a problem? And in this case, the answer is clearly no."

Lawmakers are taking another look at state laws after last week's collision involving Hernandez that killed a toddler and two adults. Hernandez, 23, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, had 20 arrests on his record.

House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, said several unsuccessful bills to crack down on crimes committed by illegal immigrants will be revived next year.

"Hopefully, we can get some folks from the other side to finally join us rather than just killing them on party lines," May said.

One bill, co-sponsored by May during the last session, would have prohibited plea agreements for serious crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

Another, by Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, would have put on the ballot a constitutional amendment to deny bail to illegal immigrants who committed felonies or serious drunken-driving and drug crimes.

"I'm going to bring it back again," Gardner said.

A third bill, sponsored by two Republican lawmakers, would have required police to arrest anyone they stopped without a valid drivers license and who they had probable cause to believe was in the U.S. illegally, May said.

May said the three bills could be among a package of measures the Republicans want to develop in conjunction with the Democrats.

"It's unfortunate it takes this event to bring people to the table," he said.

However, Romanoff said new legislation is not the answer. He said the Democratic legal team is working with Gov. Bill Ritter's administration to first see if there are loopholes in existing laws that need to be closed.

The team, which helped develop a package of laws on illegal immigration passed in 2006, will also look at "stronger and swifter enforcement of the laws we've got," Romanoff said.

Meanwhile, immigration rights groups hope the tragedy does not lead to an overreaction by lawmakers and the public.

"This is a tragic, isolated incident and our prayers are with the families," said Julien Ross, director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. "We must as a society and Colorado take special care not to blame entire communities for the acts of one individual."



The requirements of Colorado's anti-illegal- immigration laws:

* An identity check to prove someone is a legal resident before he or she can get state-funded benefits.

* All cities and counties must report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement any suspected illegal immigrants arrested or cited for crimes. Exceptions are citations for minor traffic tickets and domestic violence defendants until their cases are prosecuted.

* Law enforcement agencies to report by March each year how many people they referred to ICE the previous year.

* Employers to prove they don't have any illegal immigrant workers to qualify for state economic development grants, loans and incentives.

* Employers to attest that employees are legally in the country and that the employer has not altered or falsified the employee's ID documents.

* State contractors to use a federal database to check the immigration status of new hires. Denies state contracts to businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.



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