Articles on Sanctuary City Policy - CAIR - Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform

For legal information on sanctuary city policies, see CAIR's legal section. Of particular interest is the March 22, 2005 Supreme Court ruling that local law enforcement may cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

On May 2, 2006, Colorado enacted a statute (SB 90) to disallow sanctuary cities. The key provisions of the statute are as follows:

Articles

Taps for sanctuary
By Staff writers, Rocky Mountain News, May 6, 2006
Articles below this point include excerpts.

City rejects immigration measure - Proposal aimed to bar city employees from questioning status
By Matthew Benson, The Coloradoan, October 5, 2005
The city of Fort Collins won't set limits on when its employees or police can ask residents whether they're in the country legally.
City Council rejected a measure Tuesday that would have barred city employees from asking individuals' immigration status except in specified cases. The so-called Human Rights Protection Ordinance failed on a 5-2 vote, with councilmen David Roy and Ben Manvel as the sole support....
The proposed ordinance would have placed strict limits on when and how residents [illegal aliens] could be asked their immigration status.
Exemptions would have been offered in a handful of cases such as determining eligibility for government programs. Police could have asked about immigration status when it was essential to an investigation or prosecution of a crime, but not in cases of petty offenses or traffic infractions.
Critics said the measure would have tied the hands of law enforcement, and Chief Dennis Harrison has warned it could have made his officers unwitting criminals while doing their jobs....
Read more of the article.
Enforcing our Immigration Laws
by Glen Colton, The Coloradoan, to be published September 30, 2005
The proponents of the so-called Human Rights Protection Ordinance (HRPO) have done this community a service by focusing a bright light on the issue of mass immigration in general and illegal immigration in particular. However, their "solution" to the problem of illegal immigration is the exact opposite of what is needed.
...The HRPO, if passed, would effectively make Fort Collins a "sanctuary city" for illegal aliens.
Legitimatizing law breaking through the passage of the HRPO is bad public policy.... Numerous polls show that vast majorities of Americans are very concerned about illegal immigration. What Fort Collins citizens want and the nation's citizens are demanding is increased enforcement of our nation's immigration laws; not the lower levels of enforcement that sanctuary policies promote. Citizens want employers of illegal aliens punished, they are against drivers licenses for illegal aliens, they oppose sanctuary policies, are against amnesties and massive guest worker programs, and want our borders secured...
[The] City of Fort Collins [should] Reject the HRPO and continue to allow law enforcement officials to use their discretion in asking for immigration status. Do not accept matricula cards as valid I.D - this is illegal in Colorado; Ensure that all employees of the City and its sub-contractors are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants....
Read more of the article.
Immigration and the Alien Gang Epidemic: Problems and Solutions
Testimony of Heather Mac Donald, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims, April 13, 2005
...Sanctuary laws, present in such cities as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Austin, Houston, and San Francisco, generally forbid local police officers from inquiring into a suspect’s immigration status or reporting it to federal authorities. Such laws place a higher priority on protecting illegal aliens from deportation than on protecting legal immigrants and citizens from assault, rape, arson, and other crimes.

Let’s say a Los Angeles police officer sees a member of Mara Salvatrucha hanging out at Hollywood and Vine. The gang member has previously been deported for aggravated assault; his mere presence back in the country following deportation is a federal felony. Under the prevailing understanding of Los Angeles’s sanctuary law (special order 40), if that officer merely inquires into the gangbanger’s immigration status, the officer will face departmental punishment.

To get the felon off the street, the cop has to wait until he has probable cause to arrest the gangbanger for a non-immigration crime, such as murder or robbery. It is by no means certain that that officer will successfully build a non-immigrant case against the gangster, however, since witnesses to gang crime often fear deadly retaliation if they cooperate with the police. Meanwhile, the gangbanger is free to prey on law-abiding members of his community, many of them immigrants themselves.

This is an extraordinarily inefficient way to reduce crime. If an officer has grounds for arresting a criminal now, it is perverse to ask him to wait until some later date when maybe, if he is lucky, he will have an additional ground for arrest....

The standard argument for sanctuary laws is that they encourage illegal aliens to work with the police or seek government services. This argument is based on myth, not evidence. No illegal alien advocate has ever provided a shred of evidence that sanctuary laws actually accomplish their alleged ends. Nor has anyone shown that illegal aliens are even aware of sanctuary laws. The evidence for the destructive effects of sanctuary laws is clear, however.

The idea that sanctuary laws are “pro-immigrant” is perhaps the greatest myth of all. Keeping illegal criminals in the community subjects all immigrants [as well as illegal aliens] to the thrall of crime and impedes economic growth in immigrant communities.

Obviously, the final prerequisite for ridding immigrant communities of illegal thugs is enough ICE detention space and deportation resources. But providing police officers with every lawful tool to fight crime is a crucial first step to protecting immigrant lives and should be the unanimous recommendation of the Subcommittee.
Read more of the testimony.

Articles on Fort Collins' proposed sanctuary policy for illegal aliens

Fort Collins, Colorado, is considering implementing a sanctuary policy for illegal aliens. Below are selected articles:
When Does 'Safety' Become 'Sanctuary'? - City Council prepares, at last, to hear the proposed Human Rights Protection Ordinance
By Jamie Way, Fort Collins Weekly, September 14, 2005

For most people in Fort Collins, calling the police in the wake of a crime is a logical response to being victimized....

But not for everyone....

Utilizing services like the police that legal citizens take for granted could lead to [illegal aliens] "getting into trouble...
Fred Elbel is the director of the Denver-based Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, an organization that opposes measures like the Human Rights Protection Ordinance. He claims that the ordinance would merely "hamstring city employees and law enforcement officers" while protecting illegal aliens. Elbel says that crime victims can already report crimes under the current system—although he acknowledges that they may risk deportation if it's discovered that they're in the country illegally.

"Those illegal aliens can come forward at any time if they fear for their safety. They will almost certainly be given whatever protection the law affords," Ebel says in an email interview. "Just as a house burglar may be arrested if she reports an abusive partner in crime, illegal aliens who come forth also stand to be deported according to our immigration laws for the crimes they have committed by entering our country illegally."

If adopted, the ordinance would offset the effects of the federal Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act proposed by Rep. Charlie Norwood of Georgia in July 2003. The measure, known as the CLEAR Act, was reintroduced on June 30. If adopted into law, CLEAR would provide financial assistance to states that would enforce immigration laws "in the course of carrying out such agency's law enforcement duties."....

Glen Colton, a Fort Collins resident and member of the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, does not believe that the Human Rights Protection Ordinance proposes any new policy on racial profiling.

"Calling it the 'HRPO' is a misnomer," Colton said in an email interview. "In reality, it provides sanctuary to illegal aliens and is unnecessary because there are already strong laws against profiling. It will result in Fort Collins becoming a safe haven to those who have broken immigration laws."

According to Mayor Doug Hutchinson, in large part the ordinance is repetitive and merely reiterates existing laws. Historically, it has not been the policy of the Fort Collins police to inquire about immigration status and racial profiling is already illegal.

"The ordinance isn't going to change any city policies. It's unnecessary," Hutchinson says. "I can't speak for this council, but I don't think there's a lot of support for this ordinance as it's written."

Read more of the article.
Rights ordinance loses oomph - Impression of sanctuary may doom protection plan
By Matthew Benson, Fort Collins Coloradoan, August 28, 2005
After nearly two years of study and the formation of a special task force, a proposed Fort Collins ordinance that bars discrimination based on immigration status still faces an uphill battle....
Councilman Kurt Kastein balked at the ordinance's first clause, a provision stating that the city strives to provide equal services "to all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity or immigration status."
"We are not striving to provide equal services to all people in our city if you include folks who are here illegally," he said.
Mayor Doug Hutchinson said public interest in the measure has been high - and overwhelmingly negative....
Read more of the article.
On the border - FORT COLLINS - The kid gloves stayed on Monday night in Harmony Library�s Community Room
By Kate Forgach, Fort Collins Rocky Mountain Bullhorn, August 25, 2005
...The hot topic was illegal immigration�particularly across the Mexican-American border�and eight protestors holding signs outside the library signaled potential controversy ahead....
Fort Collins resident Glen Colton moderated the evening�s event, which was organized by himself, five other local activists and the Lakewood-based Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (CAIR). CAIR Director Fred Elbel also spoke at the August 22 meeting....
CAIR members organized the meeting, �because it�s time to start talking about immigration, as a community and as a nation. The purpose of the meeting was to get people out, educate them and let them hear this side of the argument. We don�t believe that our side of the argument has been heard,� Colton says, adding that a primary goal is to see immigration slowed to about 200,000 entries per year. Current estimates put the number of Mexican immigrants into the United States at about 800,000 to 1 million each year....
Closer to home, the Human Rights Protection Ordinance came under fire at the meeting. Scheduled for presentation to city council on September 6, the ordinance would prevent city employees and police from asking an individual�s immigration status under most circumstances....
Read more of the article.

Read more about Fort Collins' proposed sanctuary policy for illegal aliens.

Articles on Denver's sanctuary policy for illegal aliens
Mayor's company faces conundrum in hiring workers (Denver)
Casper Star Tribune, July 18, 2005
DENVER (AP) - Dozens of workers whose names don't match their Social Security numbers have been allowed to work at a restaurant company owned partly by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, according to The Denver Post.
An undocumented worker [illegal alien] who was a dishwasher at a Wynkoop Holdings Inc. restaurant, allegedly shot two off-duty officers in May, killing one, prompting the company to change its policy to one where names are double-checked.
Dozens of employees have been allowed to work, despite discrepancies, according to Mark Eddy, a Wynkoop spokesman....
Read more of the article.
Extradition stirs up controversy (Denver)
By By Lisa Friedman, Washington Bureau, Los Angeles Daily News.com, June 12, 2005
The family of slain Los Angeles sheriff's Deputy David March finds both solace and sadness in the arrest in Mexico of a man suspected of killing a Denver police officer.
But the decision of the Denver district attorney to not seek the death penalty or life imprisonment in exchange for getting the suspected killer back to the U.S. also has exacerbated rifts within the March family and added to recriminations about the case.
In Washington, both the Los Angeles and Denver cases are serving as a call to arms among members of Congress bent on pressuring the administration to renegotiate its extradition treaty with Mexico.
Under that pact, the Mexican government refuses to extradite criminal suspects who may face the death penalty or life in prison, both of which the Mexican Supreme Court has ruled to be cruel and unusual punishment....
Read more of the article.
Littwin: Firing illegal immigrants no joyful task (Denver)
By Mike Littwin, Rocky Mountain News, May 24, 2005
Lee Driscoll is cracking down on illegal immigrants in his restaurants....
And it's tearing him up inside.
He's going to fire as many as 51 of his employees - for crimes that include trying to make a living for their families....
"I think it will make me very emotional," he is saying on the day the story breaks. "I think it will make me cry."
Lee Driscoll is CEO of Wynkoop Holdings Inc., which runs the restaurants partly owned by John Hickenlooper....
But the restaurants, it turns out, have everything to do with Hickenlooper....
Raul Garcia-Gomez was a dishwasher at the Cherry Cricket - one of Hickenlooper's restaurants - when he allegedly killed Detective Donnie Young....
And so this won't come up again, Wynkoop will now use the new software to screen Social Security numbers at the time of hire. No match means no job. There's no law forcing Wynkoop to do any of this. There's a political reality that begins and ends with restaurants owned by mayors.
But what is clearly true is that Denver is not a sanctuary city - not if that means it's somehow different from other cities. If you listen to talk radio, or Tom Tancredo, you'd think Denver was the Big Rock Candy Mountain for illegal immigrants, who race here for all the goodies city officials are handing out. But the only service I can see that isn't federally mandated is that, as in most cities, cops don't turn you over to immigration if you have an accent and you run a stop sign....
Read more of the article.
Immigration excuses need some work (Denver)
David Harsanyi, The Denver Post, May 23, 2005

Did you know some consider it racist to oppose illegal immigration but perfectly reasonable to support a system that casts illegal Mexican immigrants in the most menial and undesirable jobs?
The enlightened, it would seem, need someone to wash the dishes when they are done with their seared ahi and pinot noir in the finest Cherry Creek bistros.
Makes you wonder, though: Who are the bigots here?
Speaking of bigots, Mexican President Vicente Fox says these illegals do jobs "that not even blacks want to do." Odious on its face, it gives you a taste of what El Presidente thinks of his northern citizenry - despite the tens of billions they send home each year.
Here in our homeland, we're told that illegal immigrants aren't driving down wages, they're simply taking jobs Coloradans wouldn't dream of doing.
In other words: We like slave labor....
Colorado provides illegal immigrants free use of hospitals and city homeless shelters, while they make up around 20 percent of the Colorado jail population. And the state affords tens of thousands of immigrant children free schooling.
Is it racist to point out these facts? Or do open-border advocates cleverly equate rational immigration control with irrational bigotry?
If you want open borders and have no use for American sovereignty, just say so....
Hickenlooper can influence policy beyond his charge. And there are two things he could do tomorrow.
The first step should be an insistence that Denver police change their booking policy to include "illegal" as a designation (whether Mexican, Russian, Chinese, Canadian - especially Canadian - illegals) to start building a quantitative data bank of repeat offenders.
Second, the mayor could check out the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which says that state and local governments may designate local officers to "perform a function of a federal immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension or detention of aliens in the United States."
To achieve this, Hickenlooper would need to enlist the aid of Gov. Bill Owens and Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to petition the U.S. attorney general for such status (only two states have so far) and help make Denver less of a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. Read more of the article.
New ID scrutiny - Mayor's eateries will require better proof in wake of slaying (Denver)
By April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News, May 24, 2005
The manager of Mayor John Hickenlooper's restaurants is tightening the company's hiring policies regarding the employment of illegal immigrants.
Applicants won't get a job if they can't produce a valid Social Security number.
Few, if any, restaurants in the area have such a strict regulation....
Read more of the article.
From the Jawbone of Another Ass (Denver)
By Jan Herron, Magic City Morning Star, May 22, 2005
Straight from the jawbone of another ass comes betrayal by an elected official of his Oath of Office and the people he swore to protect.
The specific ass in question is Mayor John "please come to Denver, illegal aliens" Hickenlooper, whose Denver Police Department follows the "hands off" policy to illegal aliens outlined in his predecessor's Executive Order 116.
After the recent ambush by a Mexican illegal alien of two Denver PD officers, followed by the death of Officer Donald Young, His Honor was criticized for continuing Denver's "sanctuary" policy that enabled accused murderer Raul Garcia-Gomez to weather three separate police encounters with no notification to federal immigration authorities apprehension.
... City Attorney Cole Finegan shared with the News a 1999 legal opinion that Denver cops have no obligation to report to federal authorities that a person they have contacted is an illegal immigrant. In trying to "have it both ways," that same opinion claims nothing in Executive Order No. 116 prevents an officer from enforcing criminal sections of immigration law.
Hickenlooper joined the official flip-flop on May 19: "Local government's role is not to arrest, combine or expel those without valid visas," he said in an interview, "Our policy is to follow the interpretation of the federal law." Does that mean His Honor copies President George Bush with his refusal to enforce federal laws?
Coloradans can thank Congressman Tom Tancredo for disclosing to the public what Hickenlooper wanted to keep under wraps: how Hickenlooper's administration continued the "sanctuary" policy that turns a blind eye to civil and criminal violations by illegal aliens rather than to send them to ICE for deportation. The congressman provided all the details of Raul Garcia-Gomez' three routine encounters with the Denver PD. Despite three successive times of presenting a Mexican drivers' license, his presence in the country was never questioned or investigated.
And where did llegal alien murderer Raul Garcia-Gomez gain employment but at Denver's Cherry Cricket, where his uncle managed the kitchen for owner Mayor John Hickenlooper? (We now know the restaurant by the new name in honor of his illegal alien staff - Cherry Cockroach.) Was Mayor Hickenlooper daunted to learn that his trustful business partner, Lee Driscoll, hires illegal aliens whose documents are so clearly phony that even the police commented on their "probable fraudulence?" Not at all.
Did Hickenlooper feel it incumbent to rescind Denver's "sanctuary" policy that led to the murder of Officer Donald Young and other Coloradans? Not at all. His Honor stated publicly on two separate Denver radio shows that forwarding to ICE the names of suspected illegal aliens encountered during traffic stops would not be practical. In other words, back to business as usual.
Hickenlooper further "passed the buck" by explaining that Congress has to work the issues of enforcing immigration laws. His Honor has in his own backyard Congressman Tom Tancredo to "work the immigration issue," yet the Mayor and his staff rarely miss an opportunity to castigate the congressman's efforts. If the Mayor wants so deeply for the "federal government to work the immigration issue," when will he begin publicly supporting Tom Tancredo's efforts in Washington?
The agenda of Mayor Hickenlooper is crystal-clear: he, his staff, his fellow restauranteurs and big business cronies are propaganda mills for illegal immigration. Might supporting federal immigration law enforcement hinder the operation of Hickenlooper's business dependence on hiring illegal aliens?...
This Mayor has violated his oath of office by placing his personal interests before the citizens he swore to protect. Clearly, his business interests, those of his cronies and the illegal aliens providing their "cheap labor" drive his agenda during his mayoral tenure....
Read the complete article.
Blake: GOP thinks it finally sees Hickenlooper's feet of clay (Denver)
Peter Blake, Rocky Mountain News, May 21, 2005
...The fatal shooting of Detective Donald Young and wounding of Detective Jack Bishop, allegedly by a Mexican citizen who worked in one of Hickenlooper's restaurants, has focused attention on the city's willingness to tolerate, if not encourage, illegals.
The so-called "sanctuary" policy was initiated by former Mayor Wellington Webb, but Hickenlooper has done nothing to change it.
"Illegal immigration is the silent issue that resonates with a majority of Republicans and Democrats," said Senate Minority Leader Mark Hillman, R-Burlington. "It's almost politically incorrect to talk about it but I am constantly amazed by the number of blue-collar Democrats who seem to be just as outspoken about this as conservative Republicans" - at least when they think no reporters are near.
Hickenlooper has enjoyed bipartisan popularity because "he doesn't violate obvious liberal orthodoxies" while being "sensible on business issues," said Hillman, who clearly enjoyed "listening to him squirm" on Mike Rosen's show Thursday....
Despite the denials, Hickenlooper's Denver is in fact a "sanctuary" city, insisted House Minority Leader Joe Stengel, R-Littleton. Police don't often check backgrounds of people they stop and when they do turn out to be illegals, "they just turn them loose."
Nor can Hickenlooper claim he has no control over the "blind trust" that he has put his restaurants in, said Stengel. "As the beneficiary of the trust he can force the trustee to do what is proper . . . He has more control than he would lead the public to believe."
What's more, the trustee has a fiduciary duty to protect the assets of the trust and by hiring illegals he has put them in jeopardy.
Stengel said he would introduce legislation next session that would punish employers who don't take action against illegal employees once they've been told by the federal government their documents are fraudulent....
Read the complete article.
Rosen: Closing the sanctuary (Denver)
By Mike Rosen, the Rocky Mountain News, May 20, 3005
Raul Garcia-Gomez might do for the cause of immigration reform what Ward Churchill has done for reform of leftist domination in academia. The alleged cop killer - Garcia-Gomez that is, not Churchill - has focused the spotlight on governmental and business laxity and duplicity in regard to immigration policy and enforcement....
Denver cops are understandably grieving, angry and frustrated right now. I join them in mourning the loss of Detective Donald Young. The police are not to blame for crimes committed by illegal immigrants in our city. That's a political failure shared by federal and local governments....
The practical definition of a sanctuary city is one that accommodates illegal immigrants, making it easier for them to move freely in the community, conduct commerce, and exploit government services while discouraging the police from proactively identifying them and informing federal authorities so that they may be prosecuted and deported. In that regard, Denver is no doubt perceived in the illegal alien community as a friendly venue....
It's now Mayor Hick's watch. Denver can be less friendly and accommodating to illegal aliens. He can change city policy to instruct the police department to actively cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. For that to be effective, the federal government must get serious about enforcing our immigration laws.
Read more of the article.
Feds to check city jail list - Immigration agency will look for illegals arrested in Denver (Denver)
By Lou Kilzer, Rocky Mountain News, May 20, 2005
Federal agents will start routinely asking the Denver Sheriff Department for a list of foreign nationals in city jails, the local head of the federal immigration agency said Thursday.
The move was sparked by a Rocky Mountain News report that fewer than 40 of some 270-plus foreign nationals recently in Denver jails have federal immigrations holds, said Jeff Copp, agent in charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Denver.
It is unknown how many of those foreign nationals might be in the country illegally.
Denver Safety Manager Al LaCabe said the move represents no change in city policy, which states that Denver will not proactively research the immigration status of inmates. The city will instead depend on federal agents to do so.
The city's list of jailed foreign nationals would have been available to federal agents in the past if they had asked for it, LaCabe said.
"They just have not done it for a while," he said....
Denver police procedure says that if a suspect is arrested and is "believed to be an undocumented immigrant" the Sheriff Department will "notify the INS authorities according to their procedures."
LaCabe said Thursday that the word "their" refers to the Sheriff Department and not the INS. He said the sheriff procedure has been not to notify ICE.
A separate sheriff department policy states that a "hold of immigration" tag will be placed on an inmate computer log "only when the United States Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service has issued a detainer or warrant on an immigration matter." ...
Mayor John Hickenlooper said in a radio interview on KOA-AM (850) he was "embarrassed" by a News story that jail administrators do not routinely notify federal officials when illegal immigrants are in custody - in apparent conflict with city policy....
This is the policy used by the Denver Sheriff Department for "immigration prisoners." (Rev. Feb. 24, 1995)
The charge "Hold for Immigration" will be lodged against a prisoner only when the United States Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has issued a detainer or warrant on an immigration matter. A TTY or the detainer should accompany the arrest slip.
When a person is arrested on a felony investigation charge, and the person may be an illegal immigrant, the INS may issue a detainer marked "VALID ONLY UPON CONVICTION" of the felony charge for which the prisoner is being held. This charge will be added to the prisoner's arrest record with the notation "VALID ONLY UPON CONVICTION" entered in the STATUS COMMENT field during the complete booking. If a prisoner is eligible for release, the INS hold will be dropped, and the prisoner will be released.
(Rev. Aug. 22, 2002)
When a prisoner with an immigration hold has had all remaining charges satisfied, leaving only the immigration hold, the INS Department will be notified immediately by teletype or by fax. All correspondence must clearly indicate that the prisoner is held at the Pre-Arraignment Detention Facility in Denver on their hold only. We shall request acknowledgment of the teletype or fax, including the INS officer's name and approximate pickup time. If the INS will require more than 48 hours for pickup, we will ask that they send a second detainer requesting us to continue holding the prisoner and accept billing for the housing effective the date of the second detainer. If a scheduled pickup does not occur within the 48 hours, a supervisor shall be notified. The supervisor shall see that a second teletype or fax is sent to request a new detainer, and inform them that we will begin billing their agency for the detainment of the prisoner. If an INS prisoner is to be held for a long period of time, and we have the second detainer, the prisoner will be transferred to the Denver County Jail to await pickup. The 2 Control Center Officer will notify the INS of the transfer.
Read the complete article.
Jailer pokes hole in city's claim - Accounts differ on whether immigrants are reported to feds (Denver)
By Lou Kilzer, Rocky Mountain News, May 19, 2005
The head of Denver jails says his department does not routinely tell federal immigration authorities which of its inmates are immigrants.
Director of Corrections Fred Oliva said that of the 270-plus Mexican nationals who were in custody Monday, fewer than 40 were flagged for immigration holds - and then only because they were already in a federal computer. The list does not include incarcerated immigrants from other nations.
Prisoners who self-report they were born in other countries are not asked if they are in the United States illegally, he said.
The procedure seems to be at odds with written Denver policy, which says that when a person is arrested and is "believed to be an undocumented immigrant . . . sheriff's department personnel will then notify the INS authorities according to their procedures."
It could also be at odds with what the sheriff's department said this week...
The issue of reporting criminal violators to immigration officials was raised last week by U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who complained that the suspect in the slaying of a Denver police officer had a history of local traffic citations.
Tancredo maintained that the citations should have tipped off authorities that the suspect, Raul Garcia-Gomez, was an illegal immigrant.
Read the complete article.
Force Mexico to extradite (Denver)
By Bob Baker, The Denver Post, May 18, 2005
There is a country to the south of the United States that has become a fugitive paradise, willingly harboring and giving sanctuary to hundreds of murderers who have fled the United States after their crimes. In the past decade, any killers who make it across the border to Mexico are assured of not facing the criminal justice system in the United States.
If Raul Garcia-Gomez, who is suspected in the shooting death of Denver police Detective Donnie Young and the wounding of Detective Jack Bishop, has made his way to Mexico, he is "home free."
Having decided that no murderer should ever have to spend their life in prison, Mexico arrogantly refuses to return fugitive killers to the United States. It has consistently refused to extradite murderers if they faced the death penalty. A 2001 Mexican Supreme Court decision in essence halted all extraditions of Mexican citizens, or Americans of Mexican descent...
In short, the thoroughly corrupt Mexican judicial system has decided the U.S. cannot prosecute even U.S. citizens if they make it to Mexico...
Read more of the article.
Tancredo: High noon for Denver sanctuary policy (Denver)
By Tom Tancredo, Rocky Mountain News, May 17, 2005
...Denver is unquestionably a "sanctuary city." Denver has an official policy in the Police Operations Manual that constricts police communication and inquiries about the immigration status of people encountered in the course of routine police work.
When a city stops calling the immigration enforcement agency to pick up illegal aliens, that agency stops staffing to handle those calls...
Illegal aliens can have numerous run-ins with the local police for minor crimes and not worry about ICE being called to look them over. With few exceptions, ICE is only called when a major crime is committed and a criminal investigation is already under way....
This policy is clearly contrary to federal law: 8 United States Code 1373, enacted in 1996, says that local governments may not "prohibit, or in any way restrict" information sharing between local cops and immigration officers. When will Denver come into compliance?
Mayor John Hickenlooper can lead a movement to rescind Executive Orders 116 and 119 and rewrite the Police Department's operations manual, or he can pass the buck
Read the complete article.
Denver Sanctuary Policy Protects Illegal Cop-Killer�Who Also (Get This!) Worked For Mayor (Denver)
By Terry Graham, published on VDARE.com, May 16, 2005
At 1 a.m. on May 8, Mother's Day, Denver Police Detective Donald Young was assassinated with a point blank shot to the back of his head. A bullet proof vest saved the life of his partner, who was shot in the back.
Raul Garcia-Gomez, the suspect, a 19-year old illegal alien from Mexico, then went home to his three-week-old anchor baby and reportedly confessed his crime to his girlfriend. Next day, his girlfriend told the Rocky Mountain News, he rose early, packed his things, and went to his job as a dishwasher for a restaurant owned by - Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. Then he fled....
Colorado law requires new residents to secure Colorado Driver's Licenses within 90 days of arriving, or upon getting a job - whichever happens first. But seven months of repeated police encounters didn't result in the DPD or the courts contacting ICE about Garcia-Gomez.
How could this be? Denver is stunned.
Except for me - and the readers of VDARE.COM. My VDARE.COM column Victimizing Peter to Pay (For) Paco: The SCAAP Scam had already cited and linked to Denver Police Department's written policy of de facto sanctuary for illegal aliens. It maintains that immigration is a federal matter, and that
"Generally, officers will not detain, arrest, or take enforcement action against a person solely because he/she is suspected of being an undocumented immigrant. If enforcement action is deemed necessary under these circumstances, the approval of an on duty supervisor or commander is required..." ( DENVER (Colorado) POLICE DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS MANUAL, 100 - 90).
This "don't ask, don't tell" policy, as some police officers call it, has created a two-tiered legal system, with lower standards for illegal aliens like Gomez. Americans driving without a license get arrested, illegals go free.... Just one week earlier, Hick's radio spots thanking Denver's Latino "gente" for their many contributions and promoting Cinco de Mayo as a new American holiday ran on many radio stations....
Our impotent, fearful, no-can-do, but still-feeding-at-the-public-trough public servants have effectively capitulated to a foreign power, breaching their oaths of office, and turning our justice system over to the Republic of Mexico, and other Third World powers.
Some dare call it "treason."
This American believes highly trained American Special Forces should head for Mexico to locate and return scores of Mexican murderers who should face American-style justice on American soil, where they committed their heinous crimes.
I cannot help but think the time has come for a straight-thinking Mayor or Governor to establish a zero-tolerance Sanctuary City or State for Americans.
SANCTUARY FOR AMERICANS IN AMERICA....what a concept!
Read the complete article.
Immigration and the Alien Gang Epidemic: Problems and Solutions
Testimony of Heather Mac Donald, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims, April 13, 2005
...Sanctuary laws are a serious impediment to stemming gang violence and other crime. Moreover, they are a perfect symbol of this country�s topsy-turvy stance towards illegal immigration.
Sanctuary laws, present in such cities as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Austin, Houston, and San Francisco, generally forbid local police officers from inquiring into a suspect�s immigration status or reporting it to federal authorities. Such laws place a higher priority on protecting illegal aliens from deportation than on protecting legal immigrants and citizens from assault, rape, arson, and other crimes....
Sanctuary laws violate everything we have learned about policing in the 1990s. Police departments across the country discovered that utilizing every law enforcement tool in their tool chest against criminals yielded enormous gains....
Read more of the article.
U.S. Sanctuary Laws Under Attack (Denver)
By Marcelo Ballve, Pacific News Service, September 10, 2003
Groups pushing to curb immigration have mounted a highly organized national campaign against local "sanctuary" laws that typically direct police officers to refrain from checking on subjects' immigration status.
Aside from a flurry of letter writing campaigns, immigration watchdog groups are also helping take sanctuary cities to court. They argue that the sanctuary laws encourage illegal immigration, undermine the rule of law and allow undocumented immigrants to commit crimes again and again.
In May, the groups helped end the sanctuary policy in New York City, the nation's traditional gateway for immigrants....
"Any nation has to have a single immigration policy," says Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.). "You simply cannot have cities and counties and police departments running their own." Tancredo failed in July in an attempt to cut off Justice Department funding for sanctuary cities.
Read the complete article.
Mayor Webb at Rosalindas [Announcing Executive Order 116 - Denver's Sanctuary Policy] (Denver)
By Bruce Finley, Denver Post, March 8, 1998
Denver Mayor Wellington Webb walked resolutely into a Mexican restaurant Saturday, questioned the humanity of federal immigration rules and ordered his own policy - estimated to cost Denver taxpayers up to $1 million a year.
Webb's Executive Order No. 116 does the following...
* Declares Denver's strong opposition to federal distinctions between legal immigrants and commits city officials "to the delivery of services to all of its residents." * Vows that the city will back legal rights of all residents in Denver, adding that Webb will urge businesses, schools, hospitals and universities to do the same.
"The mayor feels federal welfare reform legislation unfairly targets newly arrived legal immigrants," said Shepard Nevel, Webb's director of policy....
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Selected articles and information on Sanctuary City policy

Legal background and testimony on sanctuary city policy for illegal aliens

Articles

Articles on Fort Collins' proposed sanctuary policy for illegal aliens

Articles on Denver's sanctuary policy for illegal aliens