State Rep. David Schultheis predicts a public backlash to Monday’s Colorado Supreme Court disqualification of a state ballot initiative that would have barred nonemergency services to illegal immigrants.
“I believe that the people of Colorado are going to be so absolutely frustrated they will take their frustration out on any legislator that is not strong on the illegal immigration issue,” said the Colorado Springs Republican, an immigration hard-liner.
Schultheis said he expects a flurry of new bills addressing immigration when the legislature reconvenes in January – many of which will pass because voters will demand it.
“We’re having elections in November. We’ll have major turnover in the House and Senate. From what I’m hearing, many voters are making this the issue they are voting on. Period,” Schultheis said.
Others were happy to see the proposal thrown off the ballot.
Luis Sanchez, 36, who repairs refrigerators for a living, was particularly incensed that the proposed ballot measure would have prohibited illegal immigrants from accessing state-run vaccination programs.
“It’s not humane to the children at risk,” he said. “To put the burden of sickness on them – there are more and more indiscriminate laws, thanks to Tom Tancredo.”
But Tancredo, a Colorado congressman who has been a national leader in the immigration reform movement, said “even many people who oppose the measure will acknowledge that the people of Colorado have a constitutional right to decide such matters.”
“I can only hope the court will recant its error in a rehearing and allow the citizens of Colorado to vote on this measure as required by the Colorado Constitution,” he said.
The ruling will encourage the Colorado Minutemen Project to become more active, though its focus is on targeting employers who hire illegal immigrants, said co-founder Bob Copley.
“The anger compounds when the courts takes it out of the hands of the people,” Copley said.
Omar Robles 22, who came to the U.S. from Valparaiso, Mexico, when he was 8 and works at a clothing store his father started, said he doubted that the ballot measure would have been a deterrent to immigrants anyway.
“They come with a goal to save money to build a house or start a business in Mexico,” Robles said. “They don’t come for the services – many don’t even know the services are even out there.”
Staff writer Dave Curtin can be reached at 303-820-1276 or dcurtin@denverpost.com.
