Immigration

Denver –  A Colorado Senate committee rejected the two immigration-related bills submitted during the current legislative session.

One bill sought to sanction Colorado municipalities that do not collaborate with federal immigration authorities and the other requested new verification of voters' identity documents.

By a vote of 3-2 in the State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, Democratic senators rejected bill HB11-1140, which would have withheld funds for local governments who opted not to participate in the federal Secure Communities program.

That program, which is operating as a pilot program in three Colorado counties, allows local authorities to access federal databases to determine the immigration status and criminal record of foreigners who have been arrested.

In 2013, participation in the Secure Communities program will be obligatory nationwide.

During his testimony before the committee, Hans Meyer, with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, called Secure Communities "a mass deportation dragnet program, pure and simple."

Democrats also rejected HB11-1252, which required that proof of citizenship be furnished before someone could register to vote and which authorized Colorado's secretary of state not to count the votes of people whose citizenship is in doubt.

The ostensible aim of the measure was to reduce election fraud, though proponents cited no instances of non-citizens' trying to cast ballots.

"Why is this not something else than a witch hunt?," Democratic Sen. Rollie Heath asked during Monday's committee hearing.

Republican Sen. Ted Harvey, sponsor of both the immigration bills, criticized Democrats for killing the proposals.

"Senate Democrats continually say illegal immigration is a federal problem that cannot be addressed on the state level," Harvey said. "Yet just this morning they voted to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrants."

In reality, the Democratic majority in the Colorado Senate on Monday approved the final draft of bill SB126, which would authorize undocumented students at state universities who are in the process of regularizing their immigration status to pay tuition at the lower in-state rate.

The measure, which would benefit some 700 young people, will be debated this week in the House of Representatives, where the Republican majority has said it expects that it will not be approved.

"What this bill really does is incentivizing foreigners to come to this country illegally," Sen. Harvey said.