Washington – Gov. Bill Owens will tell a U.S. Senate committee meeting in Aurora next week that illegal immigration forces states to spend more on public education and other services.
Owens is one of eight witnesses who will testify before a field hearing of the Senate’s Budget Committee. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., asked for and will chair the hearing, which will focus on the costs of illegal immigration.
The meeting is scheduled for 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 30 at the Aurora Municipal Center City Council Chambers, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway.
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., has called the hearing a political stunt that won’t further immigration reform.
Allard voted against an immigration bill that passed the Senate in May; Salazar favored the bill but missed the vote to attend his daughter’s high school commencement. The measure called for a pathway to legal residency for many illegal immigrants and a “guest worker” program, both opposed by immigration hard-liners.
Owens is likely to detail for senators what states are doing to deal with illegal immigration, including Colorado’s new law requiring that specific identification documents be shown by people applying for certain state services, spokesman Dan Hopkins said.
Federal law precludes such rules in applying for Medicaid and food stamps, Hopkins said, and Owens may suggest that the federal government consider giving states more flexibility in ID requirements for those programs.
Other local witnesses scheduled to appear are Aurora Mayor Ed Tauer; Dan Rubinstein, a Mesa County prosecutor and a board member of the county’s Meth Task Force; and Tony Gagliardi, Colorado director of the National Federation of Independent Business.
A pro-immigrant rights group plans to hold a meeting the evening before the Senate hearing. The American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker-based social justice group, will gather at 6 p.m. Tuesday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Denver.
People at that hearing will talk about the contributions made by immigrants.
