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4 GOP bills target illegal immigration

One lawmaker says issue is bipartisan, Dems may join in

Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 4, 2006 at midnight

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Four Republican lawmakers today will unveil proposed legislation they say is aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.

One GOP measure requires that police be trained to identify whether offenders stopped for possible infractions are in the country illegally. Another prevents the state or any other government from contracting with any company that has illegal immigrants on the payroll.

"My concern is to protect jobs for Colorado residents and to protect law-abiding employers," said Rep. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch.

The other lawmakers carrying legislation are Reps. Dave Schultheis, of Colorado Springs; and Bill Crane, of Arvada; and Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray.

Immigration is expected to be a hot-button topic during this year's legislature, although Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, said he's not sure how far the legislation will get in a Democratic-controlled legislature.

"I'm not sure much will get done," he said.

Last week, the Bell Policy Center, a Denver-based think tank, issued a report saying it would cost more to enforce a law barring illegal immigrants from getting state services than the services themselves.

Rep. Mike Garcia, D-Aurora, said the debate over immigration is both "political and polarizing," but he's willing to listen to serious, cost-effective solutions.

Schultheis said he believes the issue is bipartisan and the "light will come on" for Democrats as they realize how concerned Coloradans are about illegal immigration.

Of the five bills Schultheis is carrying this session, three are immigration related.

He would only discuss one bill, which requires that police and emergency departments receive training from the federal government so officers learn to identify possible illegal immigrants.

"We're not talking about a search-and-destroy mission here," Schultheis said, adding that police would not go door to door.

Instead, he said, the training would help police investigating any sort of incident, from a burglary to drunken driving, to determine whether the suspected offender was in the country legally.

Crane's bill involves what he called information collection.

He said he got the idea after spending three straight days in a criminal courtroom in Denver. He said at least 85 percent of the people who appeared before the judge needed an interpreter.

Crane said he believes there needs to be some sort of system to determine whether defendants who are possible illegal immigrants are employed and if so, who their employers are.

Those businesses who hired illegal immigrants would face license revocation or loss of government contracts, he said.

As for Harvey, who works in the finance industry, he said before he signs off on a loan he pays a $7 fee to a company to certify the person is a U.S. citizen.

The state and other government agencies, he said, should only do business with companies that are careful to see that their employees' Social Security numbers are legitimate.

His bill also would prevent anyone who entered the country illegally from establishing residency for the purpose of in-state tuition.

In addition, it would prohibit local governments from enacting policies or laws that prevent police or other officials from working with the feds on a person's immigration status.

"We're talking about a sanctuary city here," Harvey said, declining to list what cities he was talking about.

Brophy said his bill is still being drafted, but would prevent illegal immigrants from receiving any sort of workers compensation.

Proposed legislation These four Republican legislators will propose the following bills to combat illegal immigration.

Rep. Ted Harvey

R-Highlands Ranch

• Measure would allow the state and other government agencies to award contracts only to companies that do not employ illegal immigrants.

Rep. Dave Schultheis

R-Colorado Springs

• Bill would train police to verify that offenders stopped for infractions are in the country legally.

Rep. Bill Crane

R-Arvada

• Bill would confirm employment of defendants in state courts deemed here illegally, and penalize those employers.

Sen. Greg Brophy

R-Wray

• Proposal would cut off workers' compensation to illegal immigrants.

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