Thread: Lamm leads charge to stop illegal immigration

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20060 ... /102180037

Lamm leads charge to stop illegal immigration

Former governor leading effort to place question on ballot

By Scott Condon
February 18, 2006

Former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm doesn't shy away from controversial subjects, but he acknowledged during a presentation Friday in Aspen that immigration reform is a tough topic to tackle.

"There is a political correctness in America that makes it difficult to discuss some of these problems," he said.

The country takes great pride in its reputation as a melting pot that was built, at least in part, by immigration. That's why some people squirm over Lamm's latest passion, stopping illegal immigration. "It sounds so selfish and un-American," he said.

But for Lamm, the issue is black and white. Current levels of immigration will boost the U.S. population to 1 billion by the turn of the century, nearly four times the current level, he said. Without immigration reform, Colorado's population will explode to between 16 million and 20 million.

"It's unthinkable to me to have 16 to 20 million people in Colorado," he said.

Therefore, he's helping organize and lead efforts by a group called Defend Colorado Now, whose aim is to stop illegal entry into the country. The citizens coalition is gathering signatures to try to place a question on the November ballot to indirectly stop illegal immigration.

The question would prohibit the state from giving public aid to illegal immigrants, except services required by federal law. If approved, the children of illegal immigrants would still get free education from kindergarten through 12th grade in public schools, as well as emergency medical care.

But welfare programs like food stamps would be eliminated. Private organizations using state funds, like public grants, would be prohibited from offering services to illegal immigrants.

This proposal wouldn't affect legal immigration, although Lamm made it clear he feels the number of people officially allowed into the country must be curbed.

Defend Colorado Now started collecting signatures last month. It needs 68,000 to force the issue onto the November ballot. The group is shooting for 100,000 signatures. (Information about the initiative can be found at www.DefendColoradoNow.org.)

Aspenite Mike McGarry, director of the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, said most Americans feel the federal government has abdicated its responsibilities to prevent illegal entry into the country. States are taking on the issue by default, said McGarry, a supporter of the ballot initiative.

He told members of the Friday Luncheon, an Aspen group that meets each week to talk about political, social and business issues, that getting a ballot issue passed will be difficult. Opponents of the proposed ballot initiative have already "raised millions" of dollars, McGarry said.

Lamm is optimistic that people will support the reform once they learn about the consequences of illegal immigration. The points he highlighted during the presentation at Jimmy's restaurant and bar included:

• The cost of providing public services to families of illegal immigrants is too much of a burden. He said $10,000 is spent per year on a public school education for a child. That education cannot be withheld from children of illegal immigrants.

Lamm contended income tax revenues from illegal workers don't offset costs like education. Illegal workers pay little or no withholding tax, he said.

"This isn't cheap labor. This is subsidized labor," Lamm said.

• The impact of caring for illegal immigrants is even more severe on hospitals, Lamm said. Programs like universal health care aren't feasible because of the millions of illegal workers in the country.

• He said an estimated 8 percent of the U.S. work force is in the country illegally. Research indicates the presence of those workers reduces wages by between 6 and 8 percent, according to Lamm.

The proposed ballot question doesn't tackle the issue of what to do with the illegal immigrants already in the state. Lamm said it is a tricky issue.

"You can't round them up and throw them out," he said. But he also opposes amnesty, saying that would be like "flashing a big billboard saying we don't enforce our borders."

"Whatever we do, we want to do it compassionately," Lamm said.

And, ever the realist, he also made it clear he doesn't fault people from trying to get into the U.S. illegally.

"If I were in Mexico, I'd try to get to the U.S.," he said.

Scott Condon's e-mail address is scondon@aspentimes.com

http://www.aspendailynews.com/article_12944

Lamm warns of immigration dangers

Andre Salvail - Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Fri 02/17/2006 09:00PM MST

There are no moral or legal reasons for tolerating illegal immigration, former Gov. Richard Lamm said Friday in Aspen.

Lamm, a Democrat who held the state's highest elected post from 1975 to 1987, is chairman of the steering committee for Defend Colorado Now, an organization devoted to immigration reform. Lamm has been an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration for many years.

"We need to ask ourselves, 'what is our demographic destiny?'" Lamm said during an afternoon speech at Jimmy's restaurant.

He said current immigration rates and related birth rates project that 1 billion people will live in the United States by the end of the century.

"Folks, believe me, you do not want 16 to 20 million people living in Colorado by the end of the century. You do not have the water or the resources."

Defend Colorado Now is collecting petition signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the November statewide ballot. The proposal seeks to prevent illegal immigrants living in Colorado from receiving public services not required by federal law.

The amendment would not bar children of illegal immigrants from attending public schools at the K-12 level. Nor would it restrict illegal immigrants or their families from access to police and fire protection or emergency medical care.

Given the public concern over terrorism and efforts to protect United States residents since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, illegal immigration should be a top national security matter, Lamm said.

Immigrants who are not legally registered in the United States contribute very little in the way of state and federal taxes, he said. "Sure, they pay sales taxes, but that's just a pittance," Lamm said.

The state's average cost of educating a child at the K-12 level is $10,000 annually. Citing real-life examples, he said a Denver household with three illegal-immigrant families living under the same roof and 11 kids in the public-school system represents an annual burden of $110,000 in education costs alone.

"That's $110,000 just so someone can have cheap labor," he said. "But this isn't cheap labor. This is subsidized labor."

The overall illegal-immigration price tag picked up by the state totals more than $800 million annually, he said.

Lamm suggested that liberals who fight immigration reform aren't thinking clearly about their own stated goals.

"If you're a liberal you should love borders, because that's the only way you can have an (effective) social program," he said.

One listener brought up how Aspen-area companies import temporary workers from countries like Argentina and Brazil during ski season when a sizeable Hispanic population living in Colorado's central counties and receiving welfare payments could be tapped for work.

"You're thinking outside of the box," Lamm replied. "Did you know there are 30 million Americans who live outside of the labor market because they're discouraged workers?"

Though the United States is often hailed as a "nation of immigrants" by people opposed to reforming immigration laws, Lamm said that kind of thinking is no longer is relevant.

"Immigration has been good for America," he said. "It sounds so selfish and un-American to say (otherwise). I am arguing (that we should) beware of solutions that are appropriate to the past but are disastrous to the future.

"Sure, immigration has been good to America, but I do not want to leave my grandchild with an America that has 1 billion people."

andre@aspendailynews.com

To my tiny little mind the free education to illegals has a cost far above the $10,000 per child per year. The cost is the downgraded education of our own children...a dollar figure cannot be put on the stress these kids face each schoolday b/c of illegals.

When I went to school..and it's been awhile back I can verify...there weren't nearly as many mexicans in the school system. But they ran together, ganged up together to intimidate other kids who were not mexicans. One day during recess 3 mexican boys attacked another boy ...two held him down and the third poured sand in the boy's eyes. I went home terrified...an absolutely terrified little third grade girl.

My dad began that very day to teach me how to box and to fight when and as necessary. I don't believe that times have changed much from what I read about current campus rumbles.

RR

I don't believe that times have changed much from what I read about current campus rumbles.

Actually, I think things have changed. The attacks are more numerous, more vicious, and more covert. The teachers have no control and the kids know it. In some schools, American kids are outnumbered.

People who move around the country with kids really need to do their homework when they decide which area of a city to move into.