CAIR - Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform

Illegal immigration on the rise in Western Colorado

By J.K. Perry, Glenwood Springs Post Independent

April 2, 2006

http://www.postindependent.com/article/20060402/VALLEYNEWS/104020009

EAGLE COUNTY - The journey to North Carolina for 20 illegal immigrants stopped short outside Wolcott last week.

It's likely they were destined for work on a farm, similar to the droves of smuggled humans crossing through Eagle County and Colorado each day bound for work in factories and agriculture, the Colorado State Patrol says. And the state patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can't keep up.

About 200 illegals pass through Eagle, Pitkin and Garfield counties each month, State Patrol Sgt. Shawn Olmstead said. Across the state, nearly 530 illegals are discovered each week by the patrol, not to mention a similar number slipping through, said Master Trooper Ron Watkins.

"It's definitely a problem for us, and it's taxing on our resources," Watkins said....

"If there's a law in Colorado making it a felony for these people smuggling and trafficking it will deter them ... for fear of getting caught," he said.

Part of the immigration enforcement agency's job is to pick up illegals discovered by the state patrol. Carl Rusnok, ICE spokesman, refused to comment on pending legislation.

Senate bills 206 and 207, primarily sponsored by Sen. Peter Groff, are headed to the Senate Appropriations Committee after unanimously passing the Senate Judiciary on March 20...

Read the complete article.

Fair Use: This site contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues related to mass immigration. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, see: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode17/usc_sec_17_00000107----000-.html.
In order to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.