Illegal Immigration and Deportation

Tom Tancredo offers his own Colorado Compact on Immigration Fairness

"Does the GOP have a death wish?" That's what former congressman, former gubernatorial candidate and longtime rabble-rouser Tom Tancredo asks, in the wake of a number of Republicans signing off last week on the Colorado Compact on Immigration. Tancredo, who left the Rrepublican Party to run for gov ... More >>

Immigration: Report says CO's "show me your papers" law costs $13 million per year

Colorado spends about $13 million a year to enforce a 2006 state law that requires local cops to report to federal immigration authorities arrestees who they suspect are undocumented immigrants, according to a report by the Colorado Fiscal Institute. Those reported to the feds spend an average of 22 ... More >>

Why do you lie about Mexicans?

Why not allow Mexican children to live here, pay taxes and be part of the social fabric?

Undocumented domestic-violence victim fights immigration rules

Ana Vasquez says she tried to explain to the police officers that it was her boyfriend who'd abused her, and not the other way around. She had a broken finger to prove it: In the midst of an argument that turned physical, her boyfriend trapped her fingers between his and twisted his hand, snapping o ... More >>

Weld County campaign to educate immigrants about preventing, reporting crime

Weld County is launching a campaign to educate immigrants about the importance of reporting crimes to the police. "We want everyone to report crime, every time," Ken Buck, the Weld County district attorney, said today at a press conference in Greeley. That includes undocumented immigrants and refu ... More >>

Update: Undocumented immigrant activists call off hunger strike, sit-in

After a six-day sit in and hunger strike, young undocumented immigrants Javier Hernandez and Veronica Gomez left their brief home at the Obama For America headquarters at 5:20 p.m. today. As the National Immigrant Youth Alliance pushes plans to spread their call for an executive order from Obama to ... More >>

Initiative 52 would let undocumented immigrants get driver's licenses

Initiative 52 would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, as long as they provide an individual tax identification number, last year's tax return and a form of government-issued ID from their country of origin. Today, backers of the initiative held a press conference at the Capi ... More >>

CU Regents support Colorado ASSETS tuition plan for illegal immigrants

​The Colorado Legislature is once again tackling the issue of tuition for the children of illegal immigrants, and yesterday, CU's Board of Regents voted 5-4 to support Colorado ASSET, with Republican Regent Tillie Bishop joining the Democrats. The vote came after much passionate discussion -- ... More >>

Gerardo Noriega receives administrative closure on deportation case, now waits in limbo

Gerardo Noriega.​Gerardo Noriega, a 21-year-old Smoky Hill High School graduate, now knows he won't be deported to Mexico in the near future, but his future is still in limbo. As part of the immigration review pilot program currently underway in Denver, Noriega was granted administrative closu ... More >>

Newt Gingrich's plan for letting some illegal aliens become citizens got its start in Colorado

Newt Gingrich is taking heat for the comment he made during this week's Republican debate on a possible path to citizenship for some illegal aliens. And that path starts at a foundation based at a horse ranch in Parker and run by Helen Krieble, profiled in our 2006 cover story, "Guest Wishes.""We ne ... More >>

Wildcat Dairy raid: Five workers deported, criminal charges against six others dropped

​ In June, we told you about an immigration raid on Morgan County's Wildcat Dairy that led to the arrests of eleven workers and caused fear among many others. This week, the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition announced that while five of the workers have already been deported, the criminal ch ... More >>

Immigration and Customs Enforcement renews promise to focus on deporting serious criminals

​ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has renewed its promise to focus on serious criminals for detention and deportation. "A new policy directs ICE officers and attorneys to use appropriate discretion to make sure victims and witnesses to crimes are not put into deportation proceedings, ... More >>

Protest planned for Jeanette Vizguerra, community leader and mom facing deportation

Rights for All PeopleJeanette Vizguerra.​Jeanette Vizguerra, who has lived in Colorado for more than fourteen years, is the mother of three citizen children, owns a small business and is very involved in her community. She also lives in this country illegally and faces her final deportation co ... More >>

Boulder restaurateur Opas Sinprasong will do time for exploiting workers

Daily Camera​Last October, Opas Sinprasong -- a Thai national who once owned Siamese Plate, Siamese Plate on the Go and Sumida's in Boulder and Louisville -- pleaded guilty to harboring illegal aliens and failure to pay taxes. Yesterday he was sentenced: The restaurateur will do time, pay a h ... More >>

Illegal immigration debate at the Capitol could be a real education for John Hickenlooper

​Illegal immigrants took over the State Capitol yesterday -- figuratively speaking, at least -- when Senate Bill 54 was introduced by Senator Kent Lambert. It's essentially a copycat of Arizona's controversial (and constitutionally challenged) law, and a major waste of time. Until Arizona pass ... More >>

Dan Maes: Did he lose to John Hickenlooper for guv because people thought he was Mexican?

Dan Maes.​John Hickenlooper's inauguration as governor, slated to start shortly, stirs thoughts of those Hick defeated -- not just Tom Tancredo, but also Republican nominee Dan Maes, whose campaign imploded so spectacularly. Since then, Maes has released occasional musings on issues, including ... More >>

Secure Communities: Colorado signs on to fingerprint check for illegal immigrants

www.ice.gov​Colorado is the latest state to join Secure Communities, a federal program that checks fingerprints of people booked into local jails against a national database of illegal immigrants.

Ask Tom Tancredo: Why does the Mexican government encourage a mass exodus to the U.S.?

Letters: Reader: "I blame the liberal media for the death of our nation"

Fantasy Voter Fraud

Secure Communities: Forum tonight at Auraria to oppose controversial immigration program

​ The invitation is alarming: "Come find out what nasty things Colorado Governor Ritter is contemplating doing BEHIND closed doors." The nasty thing it's referring to is Secure Communities, a federal program that would check the fingerprints of anyone arrested in Colorado against immigration r ... More >>

Tom Tancredo not part of Republican Study Committee immigration summit at the Capitol?

Tom Tancredo.​The Republican Study Committee of Colorado will hold a summit on illegal immigration at the Capitol today, with an agenda packed with heavyweight speakers and issues (violence, "competitive challenges for businesses") -- but no mention of the man who's kept the discussion of ille ... More >>

Kevin Lundberg on CO Republican immigration summit: Current policies have no teeth

Kevin Lundberg.​Speaking moments before the start of today's immigration summit at the State Capitol, Senator Kevin Lundberg, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, portrays the session as an attempt to tackle an important issue in a post-election environment that will give him and his fe ... More >>

Opas Sinprasong, Siamese Plate owner, pleads guilty to treating workers like slave labor

NaRaYa has replaced Siamese Plate on the Go​I was at Lotus of Siam, one of Lori Midson's favorite restaurants in the world (and she's right -- too bad it's in Las Vegas), eating and catching up on my Westword reading, when I found this report by Michael Roberts on a Thai restaurant group much ... More >>

John Hickenlooper won't go negative on Tom Tancredo -- but Tancredo does it himself

Tom Tancredo.​Democratic gubernatorial nominee John Hickenlooper has kept to his vow to keep his campaign positive. Had he decided to go negative on Tom Tancredo, though, he would have found no shortage of material on the American Constitution Party candidate: Google "Tancredo" and "controvers ... More >>

Immigration busts: In fiscal 2010, ICE took 6,617 people from Denver area, 4,447 criminals

​Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is focusing on busting criminal aliens -- like the 78 people recently rounded up statewide. And there's more where they came from. ICE has just released statistics for fiscal 2010, which ended September 30. The arrestee total for the Denver area of re ... More >>

ILLEGAL, from Terry Greene Sterling

What's a Little Marriage Fraud Between Amigos?

It's a felony, sure, but in the absence of real immigration reform, some young, assimilated illegal immigrants see it as their best path to citizenship

Letters: Racists should make a run for the border

Colorado's Michelle Malkin leads the Know Nothing Nation

Tom Tancredo serves no whine before its time

Tom Tancredo's favorite new trivia game: "Illegal Immigration"

Photo by John JohnstonTom Tancredo engages in some gamesmanship.​Looking for a fun new board game to while away these lovely spring afternoons? Anti-immigration firebrand Tom Tancredo has the perfect suggestion. As the Colorado Independent first reported, Tancredo fired up his Twitter account ... More >>

Immigration reform must happen now, says Denver City Council proclamation

Chris Nevitt has something to proclaim.​The controversial Arizona immigration bill hasn't stopped any folks from coming into this country illegally yet. After all, it won't take effect until July. But it's certainly led to a bumper crop of proclamations, including denunciations by Denver Publi ... More >>

Tom Tancredo tweets about murder of Arizona rancher Rob Krentz, presumably by an illegal alien

Photo by John JohnstonTom Tancredo meets Twitter near the Arizona border.​It's not all that unusual for former Congressman and presidential candidate Tom Tancredo to get fired up about what he sees as the unprotected border between the United States and Mexico. In fact, he did so earlier this ... More >>

Call the wrong person a guey, and you'll get a kick in yours

Clemency for these six prisoners could save millions and serve justice -- so why won't Governor Ritter try it?

Wake-Up Call: Help me roast Tom Tancredo

​I am listening to Tom Tancredo filling in for Peter Boyles on KHOW radio, marveling at how the former congressman is maintaining a one-man monologue that, in the past five minutes, has touched on illegal immigration, healthcare, how Republicans need a speaker as slick as Barack Obama, illegal ... More >>

Letters to the Editor

From the week of 3/1/2007

He Auto Know

The Mexican car of choice is American. Go figure.

Race Card

Immigration issues deal the media a tough hand.

Law and Border

Lilian Shea discovers that practice makes her life pretty perfect.

Follow That Story

Border Wars

Letters to the Editor

From the week of March 3, 2005

Letters to the Editor

From the week of December 9, 2004

Return to Sender

This legal immigrant would rather return to a country he barely remembers than stay in limbo.

Off Limits

When dinosaurs ruled the earth

Pony Up

American tall tale gallops across these pages

Down and Out

A sampling of Project Exile convictions.

The Basement Tapes

For Linda Chavez, the devil was in the details.