Thread: Colorado Immigration law under scrutiny

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/g ... %2C00.html

Immigration law under scrutiny
Public-benefits rules are 'overzealously' enforced, senator says
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By April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News
December 8, 2006
The president of the Colorado Senate has asked the Mexican Consulate for a list of government agencies that it charges may be violating the intent and spirit of the state's new anti-immigration law.
Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon, said Thursday she has a growing concern that illegal immigrants and legal Colorado residents are being denied public benefits for which they are entitled since the passage of House Bill 1023.

"There are agencies that are overzealously enforcing HB 1023," Fitz-Gerald said. "They're going beyond the intent of law. I want to see what the issues are out there. I suspect they're all related to HB 1023."

A group of human rights activists Thursday gathered on the west steps of the state Capitol to shed light on what they say have been the unintended consequences of House Bill 1023.

The measure, enacted Aug. 1, sets strict identification checks to prove lawful presence, and is meant to deny illegal immigrants most government services.

The Metro Organization of People said that Colorado's new law, widely viewed as one of the toughest immigrant measures in the nation, has created a climate of fear.

They charged that undocumented immigrants aren't seeking public services for which they, and in many cases their U.S.-born children, are entitled to under federal and state law.

The law affects a wide range of programs, from unemployment to college financial aid and welfare.

The law, however, does not apply to emergency medical care, programs for children under 18, a host of medical services such as immunizations and prenatal care and certain federal programs, such as food stamps, that prohibit state intrusion.

The Mexican Consulate in Denver said Thursday it has documented cases in which undocumented immigrants, as well as U.S. citizens, are being denied public benefits, police protection and other services they're entitled to.

Consul General Juan Marcos Gutiérrez González said that the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles is violating a provision in HB 1023 that allows children under age 18 to receive a Colorado identification card to gain government benefits.

He also charged that the Colorado Department of Corrections has started to require illegal immigrants to show documentation of lawful presence before they are allowed to visit family members who are inmates at state prisons.

Michael Cooke, executive director of the Department of Revenue, which oversees the DMV, said that HB 1023 did not change the procedures and rules governing the issuance of driver's licenses and state ID cards.

"Unfortunately, people are assuming that the new anti-immigration law has an effect on DMV's process," she said. "It does not.

The Department of Corrections also disputed allegations that it has changed its way of doing business since the passage of HB 1023.

Spokeswoman Cheryl Ahumada said that longstanding protocol requires anyone wishing to visit an inmate to provide valid identification.

"If you want to be placed on a visitor's list, we require a valid form of identification so we can conduct a background check," she said. "People from out of the country are allowed in."

House and Senate leaders have approached Democrat Gov.-elect Bill Ritter about potentially drafting an executive order that would put in place clear-cut, consistent rules to govern the implementation of HB 1023.

Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Ritter, said the new administration would conduct a thoughtful review of HB 1023 to ensure it's being implemented in an effective and fair manner.

But he cautioned that HB 1023 is relatively young and needs more time to see how it will ultimately work to curb illegal immigration.

The president of the Colorado Senate has asked the Mexican Consulate for a list of government agencies that it charges may be violating the intent and spirit of the state's new anti-immigration law.

Wow, that is bold. The Mexican consulate is claiming discrimination
against the state of CO for how it treats people who are not even
supposed to be here? If the first sentence of this piece doesn't wake
up 80% of the country, we are in serious trouble, sports fans.[/b]