An Arizona-style immigration bill and a measure to verify the citizenship status of workers died Wednesday in a Democratic-controlled Senate committee.
Senate Majority Leader John Morse hailed the defeat of Senate Bill 54, which would have allowed law enforcement officers to arrest illegal immigrants under certain instances.
“We need to focus on how to save education, not divisive issues the state can’t do anything about,” said Morse, D-Colorado Springs.
Senate Bill 129 would have required participation in the federal E-Verify Program.
Eddie Soto, executive director of the Humanitarian Center for the Workers, testified that the bill was unfair to rural Colorado, where broadband service to access the program is sporadic.
Both bills were sponsored by Republicans and died on 2-3 party-line votes in the Senate State, Military & Veterans Affairs Committee. Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post
