A state Senate Democrat’s call for federal action on illegal immigration may be seized by Republicans as a way to voice opposition to illegal immigrants getting state services.
The Republican amendment to the Senate action is modeled on the proposed “Defend Colorado Now” ballot question, aimed at barring the state from giving illegal immigrants anything more than required by federally mandated programs.
The ballot question is facing a legal challenge in the Colorado Supreme Court.
Senate Joint Memorial 1, which senators may vote on today, comes on the heels of several new immigration proposals from majority Democrats, who have voted down all but a handful of Republican proposals on the subject.
Memorials are statements of resolve that have no force of law.
Democratic Sen. Lois Tochtrop of Thornton wrote the memorial as a demand for federal action.
Tochtrop said she approves of the state-services amendment proposed Thursday by Broomfield Republican Sen. Shawn Mitchell.
“We’re telling our (congressional) delegation and (President) Bush, ‘You’d better look at doing something,”‘ Tochtrop said. “The citizens of Colorado want something done. They’re tired of inaction.”
Mitchell said he was “was trying to capture the substance of Defend Colorado Now’s proposal” in his amendment to Tochtrop’s memorial.
Defend Colorado Now organizer Fred Elbel said he hoped Mitchell’s proposal would pass.
“If this passes, this will be an indicator that the legislature finally realizes the importance of the initiative,” he said. “I see this as a glimmer of hope that the legislature is finally realizing the public’s sentiments on illegal immigration.”
Earlier in the week, two bills offering to create felonies for human trafficking and human smuggling made it through the Senate Judiciary Committee.
State Sen. Peter Groff of Denver, the Democrat sponsoring the bills, is pursuing legislation with Longmont Democrat Sen. Brandon Shaffer that would create a Colorado State Patrol unit on illegal immigration.
State troopers reported dozens of arrests of suspected illegal immigrants this week.
Meanwhile, in the House, Rep. David Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, and Democratic House Speaker Andrew Romanoff of Denver are working on a similar State Patrol measure, they said.
One activist who has been urging Democrats not to act too strongly on illegal immigration this year, Gabriela Flora of the American Friends Service Committee, said she worries the Democrats are going too far.
“I think they are caving in to a small but very vocal anti-immigrant constituency,” she said. “It’s a minor but incredibly vocal group of folks who are trying to use fear to drive an agenda.”
Staff writer Jim Hughes can be reached at 303-820-1244 or jhughes@denverpost.com.
