Illegal immigration measures pass underwhelmingly

Fernando Quintero, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 9, 2006 at midnight

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Despite illegal immigration being the election year issue, voters only narrowly approved two ballot measures aimed at the problem.

Referendum H, which denies a state tax credit to employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers, squeaked by with 50.8 percent of the vote, unofficial returns show.

Referendum K, which directs the attorney general to sue the federal government to demand enforcement of immigration laws, fared slightly better with 56 percent support.

Sponsors believe the two measures didn't attract more backing because voters were largely satisfied with bills passed during the regular and special sessions of the legislature aimed at illegal immigrants. In all, lawmakers passed 17 such bills.

"I think there was some blind faith on behalf of voters that the legislature had done the right thing to address illegal immigration," said state Rep. Debbie Benefield, D-Arvada, who co-sponsored Ref H.

"My sense is that, before the special session, immigration was the burning issue of the day. But . . . I think it fell off the radar screen after the special session," said Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Westminster, a co- sponsor of Ref K.

Beyond that, the lawmakers had different takes on why Ref H and K didn't receive overwhelming support.

Benefield believes it was the subject matter of Ref H that turned off some voters.

"When you're talking about the intricacies of tax policy, many voters glaze over. The majority of voters wanted something done about illegal immigration, which is why the measure passed. But I do believe some simply didn't understand it, or were confused by it," she said.

Tochtrop believes the numbers for Ref K weren't there because voters suffered from what she called "immigration burnout."

"This was made clear in the race for governor," she said. "Beauprez harped on immigration and he lost. Ritter was more about moving Colorado forward. I think this showed us that immigration wasn't as big of an issue as many made it out to be."

An analysis of Tuesday's results by Immigration2006.org, a group of activists and pollsters tracking the impact of immigration on the 2006 elections, found that it failed as a wedge issue for Republicans.

"The fact that the anti-immigration card didn't work in Arizona and Colorado shows that this Republican strategy was a loser, and that voters are smarter than the Republicans thought," said Christopher Dorval, co-chairman of the group.

Looking ahead, Benefield is confident that Ref H will serve as a deterrent to illegal immigrants seeking work in Colorado, despite criticism that the measure relies on employers to disclose they hired illegal immigrants.

"I think people have a basic instinct to follow the law," she said.

As for Attorney General John Suthers' next steps in fulfilling the requirements of Ref K, he said he already has hired an attorney to conduct legal research and was contacting the other 49 states to look into the possibility of their joining the lawsuit.

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