Gubernatorial candidates staking out positions on immigration issue

DENVER - Democrat Bill Ritter says his Republican opponent, Rep. Bob Beauprez, failed to do anything as a congressman to stop illegal immigration and isn't offering any solutions in his bid for governor.

Beauprez, meanwhile, said Ritter is offering a path to citizenship for the estimated 250,000 illegal immigrants in Colorado if they can pay their back taxes - in essence offering "sanctuary."

Immigration - the issue that has dominated virtually everything in Colorado for months - is expected to become a major focus for both parties when it comes time to get voters to polls in November.

"You can bet this will be a campaign issue," Beauprez said.

Ritter said he won't make it an issue unless someone challenges his record as Denver's district attorney.

Colorado College political science professor Bob Loevy said the issue would have helped Republicans at the polls, but Democrats were able to blunt it by passing their own reform plan during a special session of the Legislature earlier this month. He said neither candidate has an advantage now.

"The Democrats got themselves a good share of that issue," Loevy said.

Ritter said as Denver's DA, he cracked down on illegal immigration by asking judges to throw illegal immigrants in jail until federal officials could deport them.

For his part, Beauprez said Congress responded to the issue by passing tough border protection laws and requiring voters to show identification, the first law of its kind.

The two candidates hoping to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Bill Owens have debated immigration, but the issue died down after the battle moved to the Legislature.

State lawmakers passed a reform package in mid-July. Those bills, expected to be signed as early as Monday by Owens, would bar non-emergency state services to illegal immigrants, force employers to check citizenship of job applicants and ask voters in November if the state should sue the federal government for reparations to recover the costs of catching and jailing illegal immigrants.

Both candidates said if they were governor, they would sign the 12 bills passed by state lawmakers. Ritter said lawmakers did a good job, but Beauprez the new laws don't go far enough.

Beauprez said if elected, he will ask lawmakers pass laws requiring voters to show proof of citizenship and tougher standards for employer verification that were rejected in the recent special session.

Manolo Gonzalez-Estay, a political consultant who won a court ruling that forced an initiative barring state services to illegal immigrants off the ballot, said Hispanic voters are still sharply divided, caught in the middle of a partisan battle over their futures.

He said some Hispanics who migrated to the United States legally want tough new laws to force others to follow the same path they did, while others see the issue as a way to force them out.

"It totally tore the heart of the Hispanic community," he said.



Candidate positions on illegal immigration



REPUBLICAN BOB BEAUPREZ

- Bar cities from offering sanctuary to illegal immigrants.

- Support a new statewide computer system that would allow employers to check the status of workers, or a federal database that works.

- Oppose taxpayer funded services to illegal immigrants beyond what federal law requires.

- Empower local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws.

- Demand the federal government carry out its responsibilities to enforce immigration laws.

- Declare that amnesty is not an acceptable outcome of immigration reform.

DEMOCRAT BILL RITTER

- Bar welfare benefits for illegal immigrants.

- Bar illegal immigrants from obtaining a government-issued driver's license.

- Increase enforcement of the nation's borders.

- Prosecute employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

- Demand the federal government carry out its responsibilities to enforce immigration laws.

- End the federal employment-based immigration backlog.

- Require illegal immigrants to pay back taxes and fines and begin a formal citizenship process.

- Oppose any amnesty that would automatically make an illegal immigrant a citizen.