A Latino activist group is asking for an independent investigation into whether an immigration enforcement office is needed in Greeley, despite the claims of U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard.
Latinos Unidos of Northern Colorado has already told Colorado’s other U.S. senator – Ken Salazar – that it opposes the relocation of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office to Greeley. ICE investigates criminal activities of illegal immigrants and often assists in their deportation.
In addition to the independent probe, Latinos Unidos today requested that Allard and a top-ranking immigration official meet with them to explain why they want an ICE branch in the city.
Allard attached an amendment to a Homeland Security funding bill last July that required officials to study the need for ICE offices in Greeley and Colorado Springs.
The report, issued last month, said each city needs an ICE office to curb crime caused by illegal workers. The report specifically cited Greeley’s gang problem as a good reason to place an ICE office there.
Hundreds protested a proposal by Weld District Attorney Ken Buck to get a Greeley ICE facility in 2005, saying it would lead to racial profiling of Latinos.
Buck said last month that the December raid of the Greeley Swift & Co. meatpacking plant showed that illegal immigrants were becoming a problem.
Latinos Unidos disagrees, claiming that illegal immigrants are only a small percentage of the inmates at the Weld County Jail. “Such an office will only exacerbate the already existing racial feelings, contribute to profiling of all Latinos, citizens or not, thereby leading to subsequent violations of individual civil rights and liberties, and further divide and polarize the entire Greeley community,” said Sylvia Martinez, the group’s chairwoman.
Salazar’s office said today that he is looking into the group’s request.
Allard spokesman Steve Wymer said today that the senator has heard “loud and clear” from local law enforcement that an ICE office is needed.
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or at mwhaley@denverpost.com.
