The first day of Colorado’s get-tough stand on illegal immigration opened placidly Tuesday with few glitches and fewer complaints statewide.
An expected onslaught of immigrants and others seeking public benefits and a slowdown from caseworkers having to sift through documents to determine applicants’ legal status did not materialize.
Instead, social workers said it was a day like most others as they explained new laws to people trying to navigate an already-complex system.
“It’s common to expect a rush, especially for something so new and sweeping,” said Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance spokeswoman Ginny Brown. “We expected the most and didn’t get it.”
Gov. Bill Owens on Monday signed a package of bills designed to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining state benefits ranging from public assistance to state contracts.
About 1 million Coloradans receive public assistance, and Owens has said about 50,000 of them are illegal immigrants.
The pace at state agencies could increase as advocacy groups spread the word to the homeless and indigent that Colorado requires legal identification.
“I suspect that things will pick up pretty quickly,” Department of Revenue spokeswoman Diane Reimer said.
People in line at social service offices Tuesday appeared prepared for the new rules.
“We will follow the law,” said Jimmy Dao, a native of Vietnam who was helping his sister apply for medical-care assistance at Denver Human Services.
Dao translated for Tuyet Dao as she provided a valid passport, Colorado driver’s license and other documents to a caseworker, more than enough to satisfy the new law.
“It’s different for people who are not U.S. citizens,” Dao said.
Applicants must provide at least one: a valid driver’s license from Colorado or 33 other states; a Colorado identification card; a tribal document; a military ID card; a certified birth certificate or order of adoption; a foreign passport with valid immigration papers; or a certificate of U.S. naturalization or citizenship.
Revenue officials set up a waiver process to enable some entitled individuals who lack the required documents – such as the homebound and homeless – to temporarily receive benefits.
These individuals will be certified through a state-run database after attesting to their legal status and identity.
State officials prepped for weeks, dashing from one meeting to the next, drafting, rewriting, then passing emergency rules and disseminating them to county agencies to ensure Colorado was ready.
Expecting a crunch of homeless people downtown, Revenue officials opened a part of the state’s annex building across from the Capitol to handle the flow.
No one showed up. It was the same across the state, Reimer said.
Tuesday’s lone hiccup was the delayed delivery of affidavits that are required of individuals who apply for benefits.
County social service agencies did not get the affidavits, in which a person swears they are in the U. S. legally, from state officials until afternoon.
But it didn’t actually matter because new applicants were sent home with paperwork to fill out and, as is typical, were given an appointment to complete the process a week later.
“We won’t see people being dropped off the cliff today,” said Liz Trujillo, public assistance program managers for Jefferson County Human Services.
Trujillo said it may be late September before agencies realize the impact from the new law.
Denver Post staff writer Ann Schrader contributed to this report.
Staff writer David Migoya can be reached at 303-820-1506 or dmigoya@denverpost.com.
