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Crackdown on illegals outlined
Gov. Owens says state should take lead on illegal immigration
By Steven K. Paulson and


Thursday, July 06, 2006 - Jon Sarche

The Associated Press

DENVER - Colorado lawmakers returned to work today to consider a crackdown on illegal immigration amid a heated election-year debate on what should be done about workers who come to the U.S. illegally - and who should do it.

Lawmakers said almost everything will be on the table, including proposals to restrict school bus service and school lunches for illegal immigrants, impose a statewide identification program and protect health and safety services such as garbage collection and jail for felons.

House Democrats asked a federal Homeland Security official to testify on attempts to set up a national database to track illegal immigrants. Lawmakers want to know whether the state should set up its own.

At least 47 bills on illegal immigration had been introduced by Thursday. Lawmakers said they expect the special session to last about a week.

GOP Gov. Bill Owens called the special session after the state Supreme Court disqualified a proposed ballot issue that would have cut off most state services to illegal immigrants.

In addition to asking lawmakers to consider a crackdown on immigration, Owens also wants them to pass legislation setting a deadline for the Supreme Court to rule after reviewing ballot initiatives. Owens accused justices of deliberately delaying their decision on the immigration proposal until it was too late for backers to start over.

Also on the table is a proposal to raise the minimum age for common-law marriage after a state court ruled that girls as young as 12 and boys as young as 14 can marry.

In a surprise visit Wednesday to the Joint Budget Committee, which called hearings to discuss the cost of illegal immigration, the governor said the state is spending about $560 million a year educating illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children, who are U.S. citizens.

He said the cost is falling most heavily on local governments, which pay for educating and incarcerating people who are in this country illegally, and the federal government is doing little to help.

"I wish the federal government were a better ally," said Owens, who has been a strong supporter of President Bush.

"If Colorado decided on its own to simply say that people in Colorado who wanted to work had to show a Colorado driver's license or an ID, we could on our own start to fix the problem," he said.

House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, said the federal government still has an obligation to deal with illegal immigrants. He said the governor's plan should not allow employers who deliberately hire illegal immigrants to get off the hook because of lax enforcement.

"Whatever we do in Colorado, the real heavy lifting has to be done in the nation's capitol," he said.

Republicans accused Democrats, who control the House and the Senate, of using the Joint Budget Committee hearings to score political points on an issue that is expected to be a factor in the November elections.

"Right now we're being used as a political football," said Sen. Dave Owen, R-Greeley.

Summary of proposals for Colorado special session on immigration

The Associated Press

A summary of some of the proposed legislation for a special session on illegal immigration that begins today:

Republican Proposals

Limit State-Services to illegal immigrants.

Define "emergency health care," including immunizations for communicable diseases.

Prohibit state and local governments from issuing business licenses to illegal immigrants.

Limit state services to illegal aliens through a statute referred to voters, similar to an initiative rejected by the state Supreme Court.

Limit state services to illegal immigrants through a constitutional amendment.

Require employers to verify employees using the federal work authorization program; punish human trafficking for sex or labor with up to 20 years in prison; train and authorize local law enforcement to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement; check those arrested for immigration status; strengthen Colorado's law against illegitimate immigration service businesses; disallow tax deductions for illegal immigrant wages; impose a 4.63 state withholding tax for illegal workers and deny non-federally mandated services to illegals.

Prohibit employers from claiming income tax deductions for the wages of illegal aliens working on staff.

Allow driver's license applicants to verify their citizenship status as part of the information stored on the license, to be checked by potential employers.

Require all employers in the state to apply to participate in the extended federal basic employment verifications pilot program.

Require a potential employee to present a state-issued ID to the employer, who must then keep a copy on file.

Require verifiable identification to prove citizenship in order to register to vote.

Strengthen current law to protect against human trafficking of illegal immigrants for involuntary servitude.

Create a misdemeanor offense and fine for being in Colorado without permission to be in the United States.

Democrat proposals

Prohibit state and local governments from providing services to illegal immigrants, except children, emergency services and K-12 education, which are mandated by federal law.

Fine employers who submit fraudulent information

Raise fines for employers who submit false or fraudulent employee documentation to the state regarding identification of their employees.

Prohibit tax benefits for employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Prohibit businesses from exempting taxable wages earned by undocumented employees.

Require employers to withhold state income taxes.

Require employers to withhold tax on compensation paid to an employee whose compensation is reported on Form 1099 and who has failed to provide a valid taxpayer identification number.

Require a person to provide verifiable identification, in terms of citizenship, to register to vote, and vote.

Criminalize coercion of involuntary servitude.

Make it a felony to threaten to report an illegal immigrant to extort money.