Thread: COLORADO KILLS BILL TO VERIFY CITIZENSHIP TO VOTE

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Metro/State
March 02, 2006

Senate panel OKs bills aimed at immigrants



Lawmakers want improved enforcement

By KYLE HENLEY THE GAZETTE

DENVER - Some of the most significant legislative efforts to crack down on illegal immigration in Colorado took more steps Wednesday toward becoming reality.

Senate Bill 90 bars Colorado cities and counties from passing laws that give illegal aliens sanctuary by turning a blind eye to immigration laws. It also requires Colorado law enforcement agencies to call federal immigration officials when they arrest an illegal immigrant.

Senate Bill 110 creates a $50,000 civil penalty — in addition to stout criminal charges already on the books — for making fake birth certificates, driver’s licenses and other identification used by illegal immigrants.

Both bills are sponsored by Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock, and


both were passed unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee also voted 4-3 to defeat Senate Bill 146, which would have required proof of citizenship to register to vote.

“We have this continued confusion as to whether we have selective enforcement of (immigration) laws,” Wiens said of SB90. “We are asking municipalities to confirm to us that they’ve instructed their law enforcement officers to cooperate with state and federal officials with regard to . . . immigration laws.”

Some groups that want tougher enforcement of immigration laws contend that Denver, Boulder and Durango have policies that direct police officers not to spend time enforcing immigration laws.

Although Denver, for instance, has no such implicit policy, critics say SB90 is needed to keep cities and counties from adopting an implied stance that federal immigration laws should not be enforced.

“It is obvious the federal government is not enforcing these laws,” said Robert Copley, founder of the Colorado Minutemen, a group dedicated to border security. “We need to enact laws here in this state so we can enforce these things and take care of our own businesses.”

Police officials, however, say such a proposal won’t mean much unless the federal government steps up enforcement.

In another hearing last week, John Patterson, head of the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, testified that “We can pick up illegal aliens all day and all night, transport them to our county jails, but (immigration officials aren’t) doing anything with them.”

SB90 will give the state an idea of how often illegal aliens are being arrested, Wiens said.

SB110 is aimed at stopping the trade in fraudulent documents often used by illegal immigrants to get jobs or other forms of identification. Creating such documents is already a felony, punishable by up to two years in jail and a fine of $1,000 to $100,000.

SB110 would create a $50,000 civil penalty if a lawsuit is filed in addition to a criminal charge. It is easier to obtain a judgment in a civil case because it has a lower burden of proof.

“The purpose of the bill is to make it easier to hit the people who are counterfeiting these documents in the pocket,” Wiens said. “If we add a civil penalty . . . businesses and individuals that produce these documents could be financially bankrupt.”

The most controversial proposal of the committee’s fivehour hearing, however, was SB146.

Proposed by Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, it would have required anyone registering to vote to show proof of citizenship.

“This is not about illegal immigration,” he said. “It’s about the citizens of the United States being the ones that vote.”

But a wide range of groups lined up to opposed the measure, including Colorado’s county clerks and the League of Women Voters.

“We have not heard of any reports of registration fraud or voter fraud by noncitizens by any of the clerks from the 64 counties of this state,” said Carol Snyder, Adams County clerk and recorder.

Often, voter registration drives are conducted in front of grocery stores and at sporting events. Having people produce a birth certificate or passport under such conditions “would lead to a disaster in this state with regard to identity theft,” Snyder added.

Also this week, a bill that bars state contractors from hiring illegal immigrants was approved by a House committee.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 1-303-837-0613 or kyle.henley@gazette.com

both were passed unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee

Looks like Colorado is tired of being a hub. The voting issue had got to be resolved or else the citizens vote means nothing. Attention open border advocates: The citizens of this nation have great political muscle and we are starting to use it. Be afraid, be very afraid because you haven't seen anything yet.