Colorado Politicians Weigh In On Immigration

Colorado is a battleground state in the immigration crisis, and several of its key legislators took up their respective positions on the battlements in what appears to be a guaranteed fight. . .

Sen. Ken Salazar endorses Sen. Kennedy's proposal:

WASHINGTON - Coloradans appeared in starring roles Thursday as Congress kicked its immigration debate into high gear.

Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar opened the Senate's first full day of immigration debate by lending his centrist credentials to legislation being pushed by one of the Senate's most famous liberals, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

Salazar helped Kennedy defend his proposed guest worker plan from charges that it's nothing but "amnesty" for people who broke the law to get into the country.

Representatives Bob Beauprez, who is running for governor this year, and Tom Tancredo, also offered their opposition to the proposed remedies:

Nevertheless, the "amnesty" alarm rang through the U.S. Capitol only a few hours later.

At a standing-room-only news conference, Colorado Reps. Tom Tancredo and Bob Beauprez, both Republicans, warned that the guest worker plan working its way through the Senate would cause a Republican revolt in the House of Representatives, which has passed a tough, enforcement-only immigration bill.

Beauprez said if the guest worker plan becomes law, it will be like a "dinner bell," telling illegal immigrants "come one, come all."

"My fear is that if we continue down the path the Senate has established, we will create the greatest magnet ever" for illegal immigrants, said Beauprez, who is seeking the Republican nomination for Colorado governor. . .

. . ."Yeah, you can look at the streets and see people demonstrating . . . but most of them are here illegally," Tancredo said. "When John Q. Citizen looks out on the streets and sees hundreds of people waving Mexican flags, I don't think that plays well in Peoria."

That type of rhetoric has made Tancredo a hero in some circles.

"Now I know why some of my constituents have Tom Tancredo bumper stickers," said Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla., a member of Tancredo's Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus.