Legislative special session update - CAIR - Colorado Alliance for Immigration ReformBelow are two views of the recent special legislative session on immigration (july 6-10, 2006). The first is from an op-ed in the Pueblo Chieftain, by Congressman Tom Tancredo. The second is a personal account of the session by CAIR spokesman Stan Weekes. Stan was present for the entire session.
Immigration reform unfinished It doesn’t take any particular expertise on immigration policy to understand the shortfalls of the Colorado Legislature’s recent special session. You just need a basic understanding of economics - or business. Heck, anyone with a credit card knows that if demand is high enough there will be a willing supplier. And while the Legislature did take steps to roll up the welcome mat to illegals, it failed to do anything substantively to cut off demand by penalizing rogue employers. Just one example is the employee documents requirement in HB1017. It says that employers “shall affirm” that they are following existing federal law. How many illegal aliens will lose their jobs because of this “requirement?" Pledges might work with the Boy Scouts, but they probably won’t with employers who were already breaking the law. The other provisions in HB1017 are similarly impotent. The director of the Division of Labor “may” conduct audits of employers’ documents. If employers are found to have tampered with documents “in reckless disregard” of the law, the director may fine them $5,000. Don’t hold your breath. “In reckless disregard” of the law is a high evidentiary standard that would require an extensive investigation and a flagrant violation of the law. It didn’t have to be this way. Democrats killed a bill in committee that would have required employers to see photo identification before hiring a new employee. Democratic Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald called that requirement “a stumbling block to Colorado’s economic development,” yet in the next breath she sided with Gov. Bill Owens’ contention that the law is the toughest in the country. Her soft spot for employers of illegal workers may have caused her to overlook the example of Georgia. Georgia’s bill enrolls state agencies and all state contractors and subcontractors in the federal government’s electronic verification system, known as the basic pilot program. Even the U.S. Senate’s pro-amnesty bill includes mandatory participation in the pilot program because without an easy and reliable way to check a worker’s status, it’s nearly impossible to hold employers accountable. While the special session’s employer sanctions were an abject failure, the Legislature deserves credit for placing limits on social services to illegal aliens in HB1023. The bill requires state agencies to verify the legal status of public assistance applicants through a federal SAVE system, which is similar to the basic pilot program. If implemented faithfully, it will make progress in preventing illegal aliens from receiving benefits such as welfare, healthcare and assisted housing. Some of my Republican colleagues in the Legislature are rightly concerned about the public benefits exemption for illegal aliens under 18. They worry that by explicitly exempting illegal aliens who are minors, the law extends a wide spectrum of benefits to illegal aliens other than the ones already mandated by federal law (K-12 education and emergency health care). Others fault the bill’s vaguely worded section 3(a) which says that verification is not required “for any purpose for which lawful presence in the U.S. is not required by law, ordinance, or rule.” I’ll let the lawyers wrangle over 3(a) and we’ll all wait and see whether sanctuary cities like Denver deliberately flout the law. What concerns me more is what the Legislature should have done and what it and the governor now should do about the problem. The governor by executive order could enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to train and deputize state police to arrest illegal aliens. It’s already being done in Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Los Angeles County. He could also direct all state agencies to energetically implement the requirements of the Secure and Verifiable Identification Document Act of 2003, which prescribes acceptable ID for all social services and governmental activities. The Legislature could also have done more to strengthen laws against illegal immigration. The Legislature, for example, could have required photo ID and proof of citizenship for voting. It could have prohibited municipalities from spending public money to support day laborer centers that cater to illegal aliens, and it could have required judges to deny bail to illegal aliens charged with a DUI or any serious crime. Colorado’s Legislature took a first good step towards stopping illegal immigration during its special session, but there is a large unfinished agenda. It failed to impose significant sanctions on employers who hire illegal aliens and it did not strengthen local law enforcement’s role in fighting illegal immigration. Batting one for three is good in baseball but not in politics. The self-congratulatory rhetoric coming from Democrats about Colorado now being “the best in the nation” in controlling illegal immigration is pure political hype. I hope the governor and state representatives who want to truly control illegal immigration will see the past special session as
Special legislative session update by Stan Weekes I wanted to give you a report, as I was at the Capitol for the entire session starting on July 6, 2006. All of Wed, Thurs-9p, Fri-9p, Sat and Sun-5p, and finally Monday till after 10p. It has been a whirl-wind of trying to keep up and understand what is going on. I am not a pro at this; the best reports are coming from several reporters I know. It started on Wed with an amazing series by the heads of Depts of CO government. One after another they testified to their ignorance of the illegal condition. Rest assured they are now informed of the importance. M. Michael Cooke, Dept of Revenue, was the most impressive. When you are in line to get your Drivers License, they have already checked your SS# against your name and stop to send you to SSA if a problem. Then they compare, with facial recognition tech, your photo ID with the picture they take. Coming to the DL is a (C) for citizenship. She is on the case due to the Real ID Act. Thursday was draining, as everything was scrambled (see Buescher below). Just getting copies of the bills was a challenge. People were actually getting up to testify on bills only to discover they supported rather than opposed. Owens, in a rare appearance Sat, testified before committee and stated that 1023, which is the replacement for SB1, didn't go far enough to satisfy his call. He ended by folding on several of these ideas. But they do things behind closed doors that pop up and change everything immediately. Owens did stand up for us at that time. The jobs aspect was focused on in various ways. There does appear to be a strong desire on the Dem's part to confront the employers, but in the end, both parties caved. As far as the GA portion, only one of 11 parts of the GA legislation is being passed; 3 subsections of section 9; and as noted by others even that is partly effective, with tremendous costs included. Sen Wiens tried on Friday to get the peoples 'standing to sue' included but was bounced. The Dem's held together, except for Tupa's brain lapse (even the sarg-at-arms called him Dead Man Walking). He didn't tell the Dem leadership what he was going to do, thus forcing them to drop SB1, re-birthing it as 1023. In the end, several from both parties rolled, but for different reasons.The Dem's are trying to act and appear to be doing something about illegals; but I cannot see a major difference from previous actions. They flaked in the end. The last thing to happen in committee was at 9:30p Monday, 10th, right before the session finished. They PI'ed showing a DL to get a job. Cowards ALL!! HB06S-1018 H: White S: Teck Verification of Employee Identification: Requires anyone hiring, recruiting or referring workers for employment to require a valid driver's license or ID card, make a copy and submit documentation to the Colorado Dept. of Labor and Employment; sets penalties for violations. State Fiscal Impact: None in 06-07; $62,178 in 07-08 Introduced 7/6/06 Refer amended House Business Affairs and Labor 7/6 Passed House Appropriations 7/6 Passed with amendments House 2nd reading 7/6 Passed House 3rd reading 7/7 Postponed indefinitely Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs 7/10 The biggest danger is the age cutoff (18 and older) as we know that a lot of the costs are tied to kids and the anchor they create. They don't make the benny check out to the kid, mom gets the money. It was quoted to me this last week that "Chess is being played at one level, checkers at an other", and I believe with the us, the people, wandering in the wilderness. It's time to clean house of all the legislators not standing with us. A report card is due after the dust settles; vote them out. "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made."--von Bismark The US has a particular type called Pickled sausages, commonly found in gas stations and small roadside delicatessens. These are usually smoked and/or cooked (boiled) sausages of a highly processed frankfurter (hot dog) or kielbasa style plunged into a boiling brine of vinegar, salt, spices (red pepper, paprika...) and often a pink coloring, then jarred. I'll be putting together several forums soon to help explain what has happened during the session. We need to be thinking about where we go next!! Perhaps the best call is a Drivers License to get a job; simple, reasonable. Stan |