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Category: Immigration
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
 Michael Bennet, who was appointed by Governor Bill Ritter as U.S. senator earlier this year, had a phenomenally successful night rubbing elbows with all the right people a few months back.
In his case, the right people included powerful Democrats, like White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, at Chicago’s Ritz-Carlton.
Bennet’s take for that evening last June was probably in the range of $200,000, according to The Denver Post, noting the bulk will be spent in Colorado by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on political ads and such. The fundraiser provides a glimpse into Democrats’ aspirations to maintain their majority in Washington.
 Of course, the money poured in before former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff announced his intention to challenge Bennet (pictured top), the former Denver Public Schools chief. But other factors will determine which Democrat will be chosen as the party’s official candidate in 2010.
For instance, while Bennet and Romanoff have differing track records on immigration, Latino voters could hold Romanoff accountable for a 2006 state legislative session that produced several laws aimed at undocumented residents. (more…)
Posted at 2:15 pm by Michael de Yoanna
Immigration, Money, Panorama, People, Politics :: Permalink :: Comments
Thursday, October 15, 2009
 It turns out that former Governor Bill Owens, a conservative Republican, isn’t the only one with a soft spot for kids who work hard in school but have trouble getting into college because their parents emigrated illegally.
Now, state Representative Joe Miklosi, a Denver Democrat, wants to offer those kids in Colorado a guarantee: If they work hard in school, they will receive the same in-state tuition as their peers. It’s neither a new, nor a radical, idea, he tells The Denver Post: A majority of states allow it.
“We’re talking Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas,” Miklosi says. “These are states where the Republican business leaders go to the [state] senate president and speaker of the [state] house and say, ‘We need a more educated workforce. Can you please pass this bill?’”
Next year, Miklosi will introduce the “Workforce Development and Unsubsidized Tuition Act,” which he says has bipartisan support among community leaders. Earlier this year, Miklosi’s bill to allow in-state tuition for kids who attended a Colorado high school for three years was killed, as many such efforts have been in the past, including at the national level.
Colorado House Minority Leader Mike May, a Parker Republican, predicted next year’s measure will die, too. “We’ve got enough budget trouble without this,” May says. “I know they make claims it doesn’t cost any extra, but it does.”
Posted at 1:00 pm by Michael de Yoanna
Education, Immigration, Panorama, People, Politics, Rights :: Permalink :: Comments
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Demonstrators rallied on the steps of the Aurora Municipal Center yesterday to ask federal lawmakers to pass immigration reforms that aim to end to immigration raids, writes the Aurora Sentinel, noting that current laws are splitting up families with undocumented workers.
“There are far too many separations of families, children are left here alone, the parents are deported, and there is nobody to take care of those children-citizens,” a Salvadoran immigrant who has undocumented relatives in the United States tells 7News.
Rallies in Colorado coincided with one on the Capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., that urged lawmakers to take up the issue of comprehensive immigration reform.
Tom Tancredo, a former Colorado congressman and presidential candidate who campaigned unwaveringly against illegal immigration, tells the Denver Daily News that he opposes such reform because it would reward people who broke the law by entering the country illegally.
Despite the predictable opposition, a small group of Democrats in Congress are pushing for major reform legislation at a time when the issue seems to have disappeared from the majority’s agenda, writes The Hill.
Posted at 10:00 am by Michael de Yoanna
Immigration, Panorama, Politics, Rights :: Permalink :: Comments
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
 Next month, voters in the Denver area will be asked whether drivers caught without a valid driver’s license should automatically have their vehicles impounded.
The idea might be to your liking if you’re the kind of person who wants to see the government crack down harshly on foreigners who just might be residing in the United States illegally.
But that’s not exactly how the law has been working, according to the members of Denver’s City Council, who voted 12-1 in a resolution condemning Issue 300 (via CBS4). The initiative adds to an existing law by seeking to close a loophole that gives police officers discretion in which cars to tow and impound.
“This targets all of us. It affects all of us. We’ve seen people of all backgrounds have these horrible stories,” says Councilman Paul Lopez, pictured. “It violates our constitution. This is something that sets us up for lawsuits” (via 7News). (more…)
Posted at 3:15 pm by Michael de Yoanna
Immigration, Panorama, Politics, Rights :: Permalink :: Comments
Friday, September 25, 2009
 A men’s World Cup from December 4-6 in Beaver Creek could be the re-debut of the winningest American World Cup skier.
Bode Miller says he can identify with NFL quarterback Brett Favre’s inability to walk away from the sport he loves, and like Favre, Miller plans to return to the U.S. Ski Team and compete on the slopes again, reports The Denver Post.
Miller returns less than six months before the Vancouver Winter Olympics, saying when he walked away from skiing, it left a hole in his heart.
The decision is somewhat controversial, considering his behavior at the 2006 Turin Olympics, a time when Miller admits he partied “at an Olympic level.” He also admits he’s not yet in racing shape.
Meanwhile, anyone who rides this winter will notice fewer lift operators and ski instructors with alluring foreign accents. The Aspen Daily News reports that a change in federal labor laws now requires employers to cover transportation costs for any foreign workers employed under the H-2B visa program. Resorts like Aspen and Vail, which hire hundreds of foreign workers annually, simply can’t afford to foot that bill. (more…)
Posted at 3:00 pm by AJ Vicens
Business, Immigration, Panorama, People, Sports & Fitness :: Permalink :: Comments
Monday, September 21, 2009
 If the interparty challenge from fellow Democrat Andrew Romanoff weren’t enough, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet now has the right-wing to worry about. Bennet (pictured) is one of about a dozen potential targets in 2010 for the Family Research Council’s FRC Action group.
But Bennet isn’t on their list for his morals or voting record. Rather, it seems, FRC Action prefers Republicans and points out that Bennet “has never won a statewide race,” adding, “Conservatives can take back this important seat” (via The Colorado Independent).
Meanwhile, you can guess how Bennet’s remarks on Saturday during an immigration forum might go over with some conservatives. He cited support for the DREAM Act, which provides in-state tuition for certain undocumented students who qualify, according to the Aurora Sentinel.
“We need to connect people to opportunity in a way that’s fair to everyone,” he said. “Those who work hard and play by the rules should have the chance to live the American dream. We all must fight for those values.” (more…)
Posted at 2:00 pm by Michael de Yoanna
Immigration, Panorama, People, Politics, Religion :: Permalink :: Comments
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
 Former Congressman Tom Tancredo, known for his fierce stance against illegal immigration, has been blocked from speaking at Providence College in Rhode Island, according to The Associated Press, which writes that the Roman Catholic college cited a technicality: The student group that invited Tancredo is not officially recognized by the college.
The statement also notes that Tancredo’s position on illegal immigration “directly contrasts” the view of Thomas Tobin, a bishop of Providence who has spoken against immigration raids and who sits on the college’s Board of Trustees.
Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who declined to run for another term in Congress and instead launched a presidential campaign last year, could return to the college later, reports The Providence Journal, which quotes school officials as saying they would prefer a discussion on immigration that would encourage multiple points of view. The Journal adds that Tancredo instead will speak to Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement tonight.
Posted at 11:58 am by Michael de Yoanna
Education, Immigration, Panorama, People :: Permalink :: Comments
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
 U.S. Senator Michael Bennet knows immigration reform is a controversial topic, but he wants Congress to work on the issue, according to The Associated Press, which offers few details regarding Bennet’s remarks to about two dozen people in a town hall meeting in Alamosa. Bennet acknowledged the immigration issue is difficult and said, “the politics of it are frail right now.”
The Economist writes that the United States receives more immigrants than any other nation but is dysfunctional in how it deals with them. Although federal lawmakers have taken on the issue before, opponents, including some unions, have worked to block reform in the past. Yet “Washington may try again,” as a coalition of advocacy groups plan a multi-million dollar campaign to make immigration a priority. Annual May 1 rallies for reform will take place in several cities again this year.
Meanwhile, News 13 reports that El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa is leasing space in his jail so that federal authorities can hold undocumented immigrants.
Posted at 2:30 pm by Michael de Yoanna
Immigration, Panorama, Politics :: Permalink :: Comments (1)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
 A state judge has stopped the identity theft investigation in Weld County that snared more than 1,000 suspected undocumented immigrants, according to The New York Times, which reports that District Court Judge James H. Hiatt has ruled that the search of records at Amalia’s Translation and Tax Services was unlawful and unnecessarily invaded people’s privacy.
The documents were used to arrest dozens of suspected undocumented immigrants on charges of illegally using Social Security numbers and also spawned a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado against Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck (pictured) and Sheriff John Cooke, claiming the privacy expectations of the tax service’s clients were trampled.
The judge agreed, ordering that the 5,000 tax records seized in the October 17 raid be returned or destroyed, according to The Denver Post, which quotes Hiatt as saying “there was little the public could gain from this search.”
Immigrant-rights advocates had complained that migrant workers were being punished for following U.S. law and paying their taxes, which is required regardless of a person’s official immigration status, 7News points out.
Posted at 9:15 am by Michael de Yoanna
Crime, Immigration, Money, Panorama :: Permalink :: Comments
Monday, April 13, 2009
 A law meant to help crack down on undocumented immigrants driving without a license isn’t being enforced the way its proponents had hoped. The city of Denver doesn’t always require police to impound the car of an unlicensed driver because of a loophole in the law that has advocates promising to return to the ballot to close it, according to The Denver Post.
The newspaper reports that about 10 percent of cars driven by unlicensed drivers are impounded and that the law requires unlicensed drivers to post a $2,500 bond and a $100 fee to free their car from the dreaded impound lot, where abandoned vehicles are eventually sold off at auctions.
In another indication that illegal immigration opponents haven’t disappeared, former U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, will be in North Carolina on Tuesday, preparing to speak against the subject at Chapel Hill, according to The News & Observer.
Posted at 12:30 pm by Michael de Yoanna
Crime, Immigration, Panorama, Transit :: Permalink :: Comments
Thursday, April 2, 2009
 A bill that would provide immigrants with lower-cost, in-state tuition at universities advanced via panel in the state Legislature yesterday, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette, igniting debate over the role of immigrants in the state. Republicans accused the Democrats, who passed the bill, of trickery, setting the bill for a vote when Senator Ted Harvey, a Highlands Ranch Republican, was out of town, according to The Denver Post.
Earlier this week, former Congressman Tom Tancredo invited himself and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Greeley to take part in an immigrant-rights march, according to the Greeley Tribune . Tancredo took issue with Pelosi’s recent comments at a church, where she called some law-enforcement actions against undocumented immigrants “un-American.”
Meanwhile, immigrant advocates fear that politics and police will make it harder for the U.S. Census Bureau to do its job of counting every person in the land, writes The Colorado Independent.
Posted at 9:45 am by Michael de Yoanna
Immigration, Panorama, Politics :: Permalink :: Comments
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
U.S. District Court Judge James Hartmann has concluded that an identity-theft investigation of tax records meant to ferret out undocumented immigrants violated the law.
Hartmann said the warrant–backed by local district attorney Ken Buck that allowed investigators to sift through 5,000 tax files at Amalia’s Tax Service–was improper, meaning evidence will be excluded from the trial of Ramon Gutierrez, a defendant busted in the sting, according to the Greeley Tribune.
Currently, 54 cases are pending. The ruling “dovetails” with a civil case being heard this week in which the American Civil Liberties Union is suing Buck and Weld County Sheriff John Cooke for violating privacy laws meant to protect taxpayers from undue government intrusion.
Posted at 11:15 am by Michael de Yoanna
Crime, Immigration, Panorama, People, Politics :: Permalink :: Comments
Monday, March 9, 2009
 With Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck likely to enter the 2010 U.S. Senate race, could illegal immigration really resurface as a hot issue during next year’s campaign?
As district attorney for Weld County, where clashes over immigration have won national attention, Buck received a lot of publicity for his strong opposing stance, including from The New York Times and PBS.
He most recently made headlines as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, which alleges that Buck and Weld County Sheriff John Cooke violated privacy laws in searching and keeping thousands of people’s tax records in an effort to arrest undocumented immigrants for identity theft.
Such a hard stance against illegal immigration would likely help Buck among voters in a Republican primary. But many Republicans are wary about how it would play in the general election–especially among Latino voters, who have been a primary, but elusive, target of Republican wooing.
There are conflicting reports about whether Buck has decided to run or not. The local newspaper in the small northeast Colorado town of Holyoke reported last week that Buck declared himself a U.S. Senate candidate at the Phillips County Republicans’ Lincoln Day soup, salad, and pie social. And several Republicans say Buck’s candidacy is a sure thing.
(more…)
Posted at 12:30 pm by Jeremy Pelzer
Immigration, Politics :: Permalink :: Comments
Monday, February 23, 2009
Lorenzo Cortez Vargas, a sheepherder from Chile, wanders lonesome stretches of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, earning $750 a month for round-the-clock work with no days off, living in a crude 5-foot-by-10-foot camper with no water, toilet, or electricity.
No Americans want these “harsh, solitary” jobs that are part of a federal temporary worker program, writes The New York Times, noting, however, that advocates for immigrants want better treatment for the “borregueros” of Colorado and Wyoming, who herd along rugged terrain that makes the sheepherders’ plight “particularly unforgiving.”
For years–even before 2001, according to this archived Westword article–sheepherders have complained of ill treatment in the West.
Posted at 11:15 am by Michael de Yoanna
Business, Immigration, Panorama :: Permalink :: Comments
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Hundreds of people across the nation are stuck in limbo as their cases “inch” through immigration courts. They hope to score permanent U.S. resident status, aka a “green card,” according to The Washington Post, which reports that Ernesto Garcia, of Guatemala, who lost his job following a 2006 immigration raid on the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Greeley, remains jobless and is barely getting by while he waits for his case to be resolved.
He’s not lazy. He’s just barred by the feds from working, a rule that Julien Ross, director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, deems a “sadistic” way to discourage those seeking to become Americans.
It can take years for cases to be resolved, admits a spokeswoman for the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.
Meanwhile, the state of Colorado killed a bill–yet again–that would have required verification proving potential employees are legal residents of the United States, according to the Rocky Mountain News.
As for Greeley, it seems to remain the center of the nation’s fight over immigration reform, as 5280’s Robert Sanchez reported last August in “Pinched.”
Posted at 9:45 am by Michael de Yoanna
Immigration, Panorama, Politics :: Permalink :: Comments
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With the recent 
A 2006 law meant to sweep up suspected undocumented immigrants isn’t working because Colorado’s police agencies don’t have the resources to enforce that law and other laws, state auditors concluded Monday.
For a while, it appeared that Colorado lawmakers, led by Democrats, would approve a bill to allow any student who graduated from a local high school after attending for at least three years to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities–regardless of their immigration status. But in the end, the bill was killed, causing a ruckus at the state Capitol, according to 