Thread: Immigration law forcing citizens to leave Aspen

Immigration law forcing citizens to leave Aspen

http://www.aspendailynews.com/article_20115

Troy Hooper - Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Sun 06/10/2007 08:01PM MST

Colorado's stricter immigration rules are causing units controlled by the Aspen/Pitkin County Authority to turn over faster than usual, officials say.

While a definitive number cannot be obtained, Aspen housing director Tom McCabe said House Bill 1023, which requires tenants in subsidized housing to obtain a Colorado identification card or driver's license, is "certainly having an effect."

"It's causing a lot of people to leave but in most cases people aren't volunteering the reasons why they're leaving. We're seeing a lot of Latino surnames come up on our list and we except more this month," McCabe said. "We suspect an awful lot of them are responding to the state law but they don't want us to run their names through the system."

Colorado's new law, which went into effect last year, isn't just forcing illegal immigrants out of Aspen's housing supply. It's also evicting some U.S.-born citizens.

In April, Yvette Trincado and her 7-month-old son were kicked out of their city-owned Aspen Country Inn apartment because Yvette's husband, Francisco "Kiko" Trincado, was born in Santiago, Chile, and hasn't yet gained U.S. citizenship. Even though Yvette and her son, Tristan, were born on U.S. soil, they also had to leave the apartment. The Trincados moved into a free-market unit where their monthly rent has nearly doubled.

While the Trincados were able to stay in the valley, others aren't so lucky.

Bill Feest and his family of three are moving out of Aspen today to make a new life in Breckenridge. In a letter to the editor, Feest relayed a similar story to that of the Trincados. He and his 1-year-old daughter are U.S. citizens but his wife, who is English, is in the process of obtaining a green card. Feest lived in Aspen for 13 years.

"After months of trying to get the housing office to meet with us to review our case, being treated like liars and criminals, then being told that we could probably get some extra time, they called, never having met with us face to face, and said, 'Sorry. You must go,'" Feest wrote. "Families need hope. They need and deserve a place to live. ... We are not mad, only sad."

McCabe said Feest was notified by mail that his family had 90 days to demonstrate their compliance with the law and that he granted them an additional 30 days after that for them to gain approval but the required paperwork never showed up.

"I was hoping I'd get a phone call or a letter from the federal government that they had a chance to be approved. We needed something to hang our hat on. I gave them an additional 30 days, which I really didn't have a right to do. I never gave them false hope. I said give me something from the federal government and I'll take a chance," he said. "I really think the system is overwhelmed. The federal government is hammered."

McCabe added: "We don't like this either. These are good tenants who we weren't having any trouble with who we're losing. But we have to follow the law."

The Aspen/Pitkin County Housing Authority hasn't formally protested the state law but McCabe said he has raised questions with the Colorado Department of Revenue. So far, he said, the state department has provided "little to nothing" in response.

hoop@aspendailynews.com

First of all, I have a major problem with the headline on this article. They are illegal aliens, not citizens. And if they're not Americans they shouldn't have gotten that subsidized housing at Americans' expense in the first place. Maybe they should just consider the years and years and billions of dollars they fleeced American taxpayers for as a helluva windfall and shut up!

They should be grateful they got away with cheating America as long as they did! Maybe the American families they took jobs from could have used that "rent break".