Guest Columnist – Unfunded Mandates and Unchecked Immigration Are Crushing Colorado Communities

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by our guest columnists do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of this publication.

By Greg Mills

Mayor of Brighton, Colorado

Colorado is not a border state; however, the Colorado Democratic supermajority has systematically created an environment that makes our local governments shoulder the majority of the border crisis, while blocking federal intervention. Immigration issues in this state are not new, nor are the solutions unknown. Time and time again, Representatives like Yadira Caraveo support and “champion” legislation touting protections from federal government overreach that only isolate Colorado from any meaningful support in solving this issue.

In 2019, while as a State Representative, Caraveo voted YES on HB19-1124, which limits law enforcement’s ability to carry out their duties and protect our communities. Once that law was passed, no arrests could be made based on immigration status alone. Why are we forcing our law enforcement agencies to directly ignore statutes they have sworn an oath to protect? Not even a year later, Yadira Caraveo again voted to stifle the ability of our judicial system, restricting any immigration related arrest in or around a courthouse – one of the safest ways for officers to do so. This 2020 law virtually removed immigration enforcement in Colorado, forcing police officers and judges to go through countless obstacles just to enforce laws already on our books.

Before representative Caraveo left to go to Congress, she enabled the largest injustice the Colorado workforce has ever seen. No matter the industry, professionals and their clients rely on lawful verification of licensure and certification. No matter the qualifications a person has, there are steps that have to be followed to gain certification. One of those steps is “Lawful Presence”, where a person has to show a Colorado tax return or some other proof of legal Colorado residency.

Even if a person has all the necessary requirements to obtain a certification, being a lawful Colorado resident is an important requirement. Yadira Caraveo Co-Sponsored SB21-077, a bill removing that provision from any state or local license, certificate or registration. By not checking for Lawful Presence, we are taking away available jobs from Colorado citizens.

Sponsoring these three destructive laws, congresswoman Caraveo has shifted the burden of dealing with the consequences of immigration to underfunded and overwhelmed localities. This is at a time when so many of our small communities are being ravaged by fentanyl, placing further burdens on local law enforcement, hospitals and the community as a whole. Coloradans are tough but policy after policy that harms the fabric of our communities is taking its toll and there is only so much more our cities and towns can weather.

HB19-1263, again Co-Sponsored by Yadira Caraveo, decriminalized small amounts of dangerous hard drugs, including fentanyl, and continued the downward trend of passing dangerous and irresponsible laws that harm vulnerable communities across the state and forced our cities to shoulder the burden. Yadira Caraveo has proven that she does not have Coloradans’ interests at heart and her ideologically motivated policies are not helpful to law enforcement or the people they are charged with protecting.

Gabe Evans has the tried-and-true experience in law enforcement where the community always comes first and politics do not determine decision making, which is why we need him in Congress to make much needed changes to save our state and country.