Thread: CO-Aurora teen in heated battle got help from Owens

Aurora teen in heated battle got help from Owens
By Karen E. Crummy

Posted: 09/23/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 09/23/2009 08:03:21 AM MDT


Bill Owens asked one of his biggest donors to foot Apodaca's tuition. A new book written by Helen Thorpe adds a footnote to the story of an Aurora honor student, brought to the U.S. illegally by his parents, who found himself at the center of the political battle over illegal immigration seven years ago.

At the time, Jesus Apodaca, then 18 years old, wanted to attend the University of Colorado at Denver but couldn't qualify for in-state tuition because he was in the United States illegally. Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, who represented the 6th Congressional District at the time, sought to have Apodaca and his family deported but was unsuccessful.

Thorpe, the wife of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, writes in her book "Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in

Illegal immigrant Jesus Apodaca sought in-state college tuition. America" that a private benefactor had stepped forward to pay Apodaca's tuition but then decided to withdraw his support.

However, former Gov. Bill Owens, "a conservative Republican who nevertheless sympathized with Jesus' desire to continue his education, quietly called up one of his biggest donors and asked if this businessman would adopt responsibility" for the tuition, Thorpe writes.

He agreed, and Apodaca pursued an engineering degree at another school.

Owens confirmed the story Tuesday but declined to comment any further or disclose the name of the Republican businessman.

In 2002, Owens' initial response to Tancredo's demands was to say that the immigration law had to be "respected and enforced." But two weeks later, he shifted his position, publicly backing a measure sponsored by former Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, which would have legalized Apodaca's immigration status. Campbell eventually withdrew it.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13398269

If they are all still illegal why are they still here?