Excerpts from letter by Congressman Tom Tancredo
Press conference and protest of Denver sanctuary policy, May 16, 2005
Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform
Dear Friends and Citizens of Denver:
I regret very much not being with you today. I applaud the Colorado Alliance for Immigration reform and the citizens gathered today to protest the city's outrageous sanctuary policies, policies that make it easy for illegal aliens to live and work and avoid immigration law enforcement in Denver.
We have this past week seen the grave consequences of the city's "Welcome Wagon" policies in the murder of a young police officer. The suspect now being sought is an illegal alien who has probably fled back to Mexico, a country that will not extradite any Mexican citizen to the U.S. to face a death penalty or life in prison.
There are 20 other Mexican nationals who are believed to be hiding in Mexico from warrants for murder issued by the City of Denver over the past 25 years.
Denver city officials continue to deny that Denver is a Sanctuary City. They say Denver has the same policies as most other big cities. I say- if it quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck, it must be a duck!
In 1998, Mayor Webb signed city Executive Order 116 protecting illegal aliens from losing benefits from the newly enacted welfare reform regulations.
In 2002, Mayor Webb signed Executive Order 119, ordering all city agencies and city employees to accept the Mexican Matricula Consular card for city services.
These two directives are still on the books. Mayor Hickenlooper has not rescinded them. They send a clear and powerful message to illegal aliens-you are welcome in Denver!
Police Department Operations Manual Section 104.52 tells police officers not to question anyone about their immigration status, not to call immigration authorities and make inquiries, unless and until they are arrested for a crime. So, the man who is being sought for the murder of Detective Young, Raul Garcia-Gomez. was stopped three times and appeared in court twice with a Mexican driver's license and he was still never questioned about his immigration status.
That Mexican driver's license was invalid after 90 days when he took up employment. He had been employed six months when he first appeared in court in December and ten months when he appeared in court in April, and still no one questioned his Mexican driver's license.
He was employed at a restaurant in Cherry Creek owned in part by the Mayor himself, and still no one questioned his Mexican driver's license.
If they had asked some questions of that man, if a police officer or the prosecutor or the judge had taken the trouble to ask Immigration about his status, Raul Garcia-Gomez might not have been in Denver on May 8 to shoot and kill Detective Young. He might have been on his way back to Mexico as a deportee. But such questions are not asked in a Sanctuary City.
Such questions are hardly ever asked until an illegal alien is charged with a major crime. In the case of minor crimes, illegal aliens can cycle through the courts and the jail and never be identified for their illegal immigration status.
The numbers tell the story. Last year over 1,900 illegal alien criminals went through the Denver jail -- and guess how many were actually picked up and deported by the immigration office in Denver?
Half? ...... NO.
A THIRD?..... NO
The truth is shocking. Only 175 criminal aliens were picked up and deported from Denver jail last year out of over 1,900 criminals - criminals the city claimed as illegal aliens in a grant application to the federal government!!
Those were people already in jail!! But Denver does not think they should be deported just because they committed a "minor crime." Denver waits until they commit a MAJOR crime. A major crime like murder.
In Denver not too long ago, a police officer was reprimanded for calling Immigration to come and pick up a van loaded with illegal aliens being smuggled across the state on the way East from Los Angeles. He was told they had not committed any crime in Denver, so it was not his job to call Immigration.
I believe the people of Denver want the police to make those calls and those inquiries. If Immigration doesn't answer those calls, complain to me and to Senator Allard and other federal officials, and I will raise hell to get ICE more staff to do their job and send all illegal alien criminals home.
My office has received over a dozen calls from police officers to say -
"You are right, Denver is a sanctuary city, and our hands are tied. But don't reveal our names or we will be punished for saying this."
I hope the good citizens of Denver will tell the Mayor and the Police Chief to change horses now before more innocent victims are added to the casualty list.
If these policies do not change, I predict to you, the Minutemen will come to Denver and they will picket the mayor's office and will shame this city into obeying the law.
Your protest today is a great beginning. Keep it up, and do not rest until you win the
repeal of those executive orders and that police directive. The lives and safety of innocent
citizens depend on your dedication and your perseverance!
God bless you!
Sincerely,
Tom Tancredo
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