Thread: Our tax dollars might go to Illegal Aliens from Swift Raid

Here is the response I received. It looks like it will be tax dollars going to this donation but they claim its not directly benefitting illegal immigrants:

---------------------------------------

I appreciate your concerns and comments regarding the recent Human Relations Commission discussions. I thought perhaps the following information might help to clarify this issue:


The money the Human Relations Commission voted to donate is not from The Colorado Trust grant but from the Human Relations Commission’s own budget. Funds distributed will be in accordance with Colorado state law that does not allow public funds or services to have any direct benefit to illegal immigrants.


Also, although I can’t speak on behalf of The Colorado Trust, the organization is a private grant making foundation and is not a tax funded organization. For additional information on The Colorado Trust, you can access their website at www.coloradotrust.org or call their Denver number at 303-837-1200.

My Response:

-----------------------------------------------------

Thank you very much for your reply. I appreciate you taking the time to give me more information on this situation.

I have one last question. It sounds like the donation will come from the Human Relations Commission's own budget, and it sounds like that is a tax dollar driven budget. How will the commission verify and report back that the donation is in no way a direct benefit to illegal immigrants. I assuming that would need to be documented incase of any audit so the commission can prove it has acted within state law? I hope you can understand my concern as this fund is setup to aid the "victims" of the raid, which directly involves illegal immigrants.

Thanks again for your time, its greatly appreciated!



-bud

Well it looks like they just extended an application for the $2,000 grant, they have not approved the app yet. Sharon McCabe has actually been decent in corresponding to my questions. Has anybody else gotten a response?

The commission is stepping onto shaky ground though, here was her last response to me, followed by my last response to her. I am trying to be as polite as possible while stating my position:

Her response:
-----------------------

I certainly understand your concern. Since this is really new territory and an unusual situation, we are working on the process that will be used to ensure that no funds are used that would have any direct benefit to illegal immigrants. I apologize that I do not have a specific and concrete answer for you at this time. Please also be aware that a grant application must be completed and the Human Relations Commission must still approve the grant request. At this point, the only thing that has been done is that the Commission has offered the applicant the opportunity to apply for a grant of up to $2000. Hope this provides the additional information you were requesting.

My repsonse:
------------------------
Sharon, again thank you for taking the time to help me understand this.

Without a good process in place I am a little concerned that the decision was made to even extend the application on such a risky grant as this. I do understand though that sometimes business continues and processes have to be learned and documented along the way.

I look forward to following the progression of this application. I hope that the commission realizes the ramifications of its actions if it dives into the realm of unlawful or even the realm of the unpopular within the legal immigrants and citizens of our community.

I apologize for taking up your time today when there are other jobs to tend to, but the information you've shared is greatly appreciated. If you have anymore information on the process/decision you can pass along through the progression of the grant decision it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

-bud