GREELEY COLORADO COUNCIL ICE FOLLOW UP
Very good night for activists in Greely. I salute your hard work. While you did not get a request for and ICE office you got a strong affirmation to your police force that they can enforce immigration laws. Hopefully there cheif of police can create a relationship with ICE Denver. They have a thoughtful intelegent Council. I will give synopsysis I recieved from a local organization. But, will not Identify the writer or organization:
Folks: Good news tonight. A number of activists drove an hour north
of Denver to Greeley where the City Council would be voting on
bringing an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement office
there. Greeley has a lot of illegal aliens and a rising gang problem
because of the meat packing and other industries there. We all know
big business loves cheap foreign labor.
I arrived in Greeley and went to the wrong building. By the time I
got to the Council meeting, it was full. An overflow crowd had
formed outside - they were holding a candlelight vigil for illegal
aliens. I took a few pictures and moved on to the rec center, where
they had set up closed circuit TV coverage of the meeting.
Thus, I was unable to meet up with Greeley activists who have worked
tirelessly in support of the ICE office. Many of these concerned
citizens had chipped in for a ---- ad we ran in the Greeley and
surrounding area newspapers supporting the ICE office. They had also
obtained hundreds of petition signatures in support of the ICE office.
As I watched the meeting, the drama unfolded. In a nutshell: the
city council supported, in a 5 to 2 vote, Weld County District
Attorney Ken Buck's revised resolution. This resolution said that
Greeley supports ICE along with a half dozen other federal law
enforcement agencies. Comments from council members included the
statements that:
- They sense that citizens are very concerned about law enforcement,
- Our federal government has not enforced our border or existing
laws on hiring illegals,
- Greeley is not the focal point for federal immigration policy
[well, yes, it is right now],
- Greeley can not enforce federal immigration law [yes, localities
MAY, CAN and SHOULD work with federal agencies to enforce immigration law],
- They got calls and letters from as far away as Oklahoma on the issue,
- They really can not control what ICE does [but they *can* go on
record as supporting ICE],
- They need more community harmony and peace [which assuaged the
illegal alien community].
The council went on to pass paragraphs one through four of the Human
Relations Committee recommendations. Notably absent was approval of
the HR recommendation that the ICE office be turned down.
I went back out and took some more pictures of the illegal alien
rally being held outside. I was escorted away from the area by three
friendly policemen. Walking back to my car, I found six riot control
police on horseback 50 feet away. It was a good evening.