By Michael Conniff, 10-04-05
http://www.newwest.net/index.php/topic/article/3644/C43/L37
How bad has the battle over illegal immigration become? Three Colorado state legislators are in Arizona today, patrolling the Mexican border with the Minutemen civilian militia group. The mission for the legislators: to see just how bad things might get if nothing is done about illegal immigrants.
Led by David Schultheis, a Republican from Colorado Springs, the lawmakers are also in Arizona to study the value of bringing Proposition 200—the measure passed by voters in Arizona last year to stop healthcare and welfare services for immigrants—and they are considering additional measures to make it illegal for illegals to buy property in the state. Under the plan scheduled for introduction in the next session of the Colorado legislature, people who work in the food business would also have to produce a photo ID and fingerprints.
The passage of such a measure would have a profound impact on Aspen, Snowmass, and other towns in the Roaring Fork Valley, where Mexican immigrants—legal and illegal—have become the backbone of the work force, supplanting the prototypical and historical ski bums with people who eschew the slopes as they pursue the American dream.
The implications of the visit by the legislators— Schultheis and two other Republicans, Bill Crane of Arvada and Jim Welker of Loveland— is potentially profound, according to coverage in The Denver Post. Arizona State Representative Russell Pearce has also been approached by legislators in other states, including Alabama, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Utah. "We must secure the borders," Pearce told reporter Elizabeth Aguilera. "You simply have to know who is coming in," Pearce said. "I don't blame those folks seeking a better way of life. I blame our government for failing to ... secure our borders."
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