COLORADO SPRINGS — Republican state Rep. Douglas Bruce blasted the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office last week for its connection to booklets that Bruce said told illegal immigrants how to avoid law enforcement officers.
One of the booklets Bruce referred to had the headline: “Warning! Protect yourself from immigration raids.”
The literature produced by the American Friends Service Committee, a social service group founded by the Quakers, was distributed at a meeting of the sheriff’s victim-advocate program. The booklet tells immigrants of their right to speak to a lawyer and their country’s consulate if they are stopped by law enforcement.
“It’s a blatant lie that this was sponsored or endorsed by us,” Sheriff Terry Maketa said. Maketa said his office does not have time to review all the materials handed out by outside groups during victim advocate meetings and training.
