Colorado Gives Illegal Immigrants Unemployment Benefits
Last Updated: Mon, 08/09/2010 - 11:52am

Colorado pays illegal immigrants unemployment insurance because a director at the state agency that cuts the checks eliminated a key tool designed to prevent payments from going to unqualified residents.

As a result the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) regularly makes unemployment insurance payments to illegal aliens and other citizens who don’t qualify for the taxpayer-funded benefit. The story was made public after an investigative news organization obtained internal electronic mail showing that a high-ranking official ordered the agency to stop using a software control implemented to screen applicants’ immigration status.

The CDLE’s unemployment director (Mike Cullen) actually issued an official work order in early 2009 to shut the system down. The order, which was given “top priority,â€