Owens: State Must Stop Illegal Immigration

Gov. Bill Owens wants Colorado to tackle the illegal immigration head on, and not wait for the Feds (video):

In an unexpected appearance before the Joint Budget Committee, Owens said it is employers who are the root cause of illegal immigrants pouring into the state. He said 250,000 are already in Colorado.

"If we simply said to employers that on a date certain, you would have to either have a driver's license shown to you, or a state ID card, that would in fact avoid much of the problem with the federal database, it would avoid much of the federal bureaucracy," Owens said. "Colorado could start to lead the way as one state without waiting for the federal government to have to try to fix the borders."

Owens said the state spends about $560 million a year just to educate illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children. He also offered his own proposal to try to stem the tide of illegal immigrants coming to the state.

The governor's special session starts Thursday.