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Jeffco candidates argue over use of illegal immigrants to pass out fliers

By April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 28, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Updated October 28, 2008 at 12:35 a.m.

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Two elected officials should have contacted the state labor department after an opponent said the pair were using illegal immigrants to hand out campaign fliers, a state spokeswoman said.

Jason Bane, a Democrat running for the Jefferson County Commission, said he saw illegal immigrants leaving fliers on doors for his Republican rival, incumbent Kevin McCasky, and incumbent District Attorney Scott Storey.

McCasky calls Bane's claim "a hoax" and a campaign stunt.

But Cher Haavind, of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, said that as elected officials, McCasky and Storey are obligated to uphold a 2006 state law that makes it a civil offense to hire illegal immigrants.

"Even if they're trusting that the workers were here legally, if it was brought to their attention they may not have been, they should pick up the phone and make a complaint," Haavind said. "Then we will go out and ask the company that hired them for their documentation."

For days, Bane, McCasky and Storey have been pointing fingers at each other; McCasky and Storey say that Bane should have reported the workers. Bane accuses them of passing the buck.

The controversy started 12 days ago, when Bane said that while walking door-to-door in Arvada, he came across day laborers leaving fliers for McCasky and Storey on doors.

"They didn't speak a word of English," said Bane, who added that he made several calls to find out who employed them, finally concluding that they were illegal immigrants.

Bane took his story to newspapers. A few days later, the English-speaking son of one of the door-hanging crew members admitted to a Rocky Mountain News reporter that his father was in the U.S. illegally and was "afraid of getting deported."

The McCasky and Storey campaigns initially said they hired Mike Ciletti of Phase Line Strategies to create and distribute the fliers. Ciletti said he outsourced part of the work to WizBang Solutions, a printing company, which in turn, hired Door Hangers Direct to deliver the filers.

McCasky's and Storey's campaigns each paid WizBang about $30,000, according to campaign-finance reports.

'This is a hoax'

Marty Soudani, owner of WizBang Solutions, said he found Door Hangers Direct via the Internet and won't use its services again.

David Sowers, owner of Door Hangers Direct, has not returned messages seeking comment.

McCasky at first deferred all comments to Ciletti but now maintains that the incident was concocted by Bane.

"This is a hoax," McCasky said. "There is no verifiable proof or evidence that undocumented workers were hired. What do we have to go on? We got a phone number of man who lives in Los Angeles who we are supposed to believe turned his own dad in."

Storey, who initially said he was embarrassed to learn that illegal immigrants may have delivered his fliers, echoed such sentiments, contending that it is a federal enforcement issue, not a local one.

"The only law broken here is that the workers may have been in the country illegally, and that's a civil offense that's enforced by (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)," Storey said.

Bane called McCasky's claims ridiculous. He said that McCasky is a "hypocrite" because he paints himself as being tough on illegal immigration but hasn't held the door-hanger company accountable.

Politics alleged

Some Republicans accuse Bane of political gamesmanship.

"Jason Bane is not trying to get to the bottom of this issue. He's just using it as a tool to stir things up," said Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Genessee.

But some Democrats say that McCasky and Storey should have asked for an audit reviewing Door Hangers' hiring documents.

"It's incumbent on both the DA and the county commissioner to make sure the people they're working with hire the right people," said state Rep. Terrance Carroll, D-Denver.

Under the 2006 law, an employer who fails to keep proper paperwork on new hires can be fined $5,000 for the first offense and $25,000 for the second offense.

Since 2007, the labor department has initiated 1,035 random and complaint-based audits. Most of the cases have been closed without incident or fines, but 22 remain open.

The law

A 2006 law requires employers to maintain documents on new hires. Since 2007, the state has conducted 978 random workplace audits.

Of that number:

* 700 passed

* 10 remain open

* 268 had minor problems; for example, some did not have new hires sign a form affirming their legal work status within 20 days of starting work

Of 57 complaint-based audits:

* 31 passed

* 12 remain open

* 14 have some kind of paperwork issues but are cooperating with the state

Comments

  • October 28, 2008

    6:23 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    angka writes:

    Hypocrisy stinks, doesn't it?

  • October 28, 2008

    noon

    Suggest removal

    JeffcoGOP writes:

    Great PR strategy. Instead of taking responsibility and offering a brief apology, they go with the "he must have made it all up" approach. This is why Republicans are a joke in Colorado.

  • October 28, 2008

    8:49 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    ObiWan writes:

    Company A hires Company B hires Company C, and these two candidates are supposed to know that Company C hires one or two illegal immigrants?

    McCasky aside, most Jeffco voters know Storey is tough on illegal immigration, busting up an organized crime ring of forged documents to get government backed mortgages for illegals...

    http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci...

    Storey doesn't take illegal immigration lightly, no matter how hard Jason Bane keeps pushing the only thread of hope he has.

  • October 29, 2008

    9:28 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    milt560 writes:

    All illegal immigrants should be deported!!

    Illegal immigrants do the following:

    - steal jobs from legal Americans
    - depress wages
    - steal healthcare
    - steal our identities
    - steal welfare / WIC
    - increase crime
    - Don't assimilate / don't speak English
    - Change our culture