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Pushing toward refugee status

Leaders demand action on child-migrant situation

DENVER – Elected Democrats joined minority and faith leaders at the state Capitol on Thursday to put pressure on fellow Democrat Gov. John Hickenlooper regarding migrant children along the Southwest border.

The diverse coalition pointed out that Congress had so far failed, and therefore asked that President Barack Obama sign an executive order granting refugee status for the nearly 60,000 children awaiting legal proceedings on the Texas border.

“One of the things that we are looking for most immediately is to recognize these children as refugees. That is an action that we as state officials ... can ask the governor to do immediately, to reach out to the president, reach out to our congressional delegation, and start classifying these kids as refugees,” said Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton.

The group also said Hickenlooper can prepare the state by encouraging local governments to apply for federal grants to shelter the children. The Denver Department of Human Services already is considering applying for a three-year grant.

Counties in Southwest Colorado have not been involved in similar discussions, mostly because there are no human-services facilities large enough to house the children.

Republican Rep. Don Coram of Montrose and Democratic Rep. Mike McLachlan of Durango told The Durango Herald last week that they do not support the state taking a financial role in sheltering the migrant children.

Hickenlooper’s office did not immediately respond to the Herald’s request for comment. But the governor already has said that while he would not push for the state to house the immigrant children, he would support local governments that choose to harbor them.

Those at the news conference pointed out that the subject is timely, as U.S. House Republicans on Thursday were unable to find consensus on a relatively modest measure that would have allocated $659 million to address what is widely regarded as a humanitarian crisis. House Republicans, however, said they would potentially delay the start of a five-week August recess to pass some semblance of funding. Meetings are expected this morning.

Meanwhile, the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate also ran into trouble, unable to pass a $2.7 billion funding measure on a procedural vote.

Given the gridlock, a border-funding measure remains a massive challenge before the summer recess, if not impossible.

“We have a Congress that has done nothing, and their record is to do nothing, and we have thousands of kids on the border needing us to do something, needing us to act,” said Sen. Jessie Ulibarri, D-Westminster.

Ulibarri was the sponsor of a 2013 bill that takes effect today that offers Colorado driver’s licenses to immigrants in the country illegally.

Critics of the measure fear that laws such as Ulibarri’s only add to the crisis by offering incentives for undocumented immigrants to illegally travel to the United States.

“That’s such a no-brainer,” said former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a recent GOP gubernatorial candidate before he lost the primary to former U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez. “It’s hard to imagine anybody arguing against that. The easier that we make it, the more enticing it is for people to come here and take advantage of the system, the more they will do so. It’s human nature.”

Tancredo joins with other Republicans in calling for sending the migrant kids back home. He said reuniting them with their families in Central America is the truly humane thing to do, despite the children fleeing various hardships.

“We should reunite these children with their families in the places in which they came, and we should do so as quickly as possible,” said Tancredo. “It’s the same as if you were confronted with ... runaways. Even though they may want to stay, you look for their parents and return them. That’s the compassionate thing to do.”

Salazar, however, said it is a “lack of common sense” to take that approach.

“This whole idea of incentives is just another way of trying to be divisive, trying to use one community to be divisive, and I just don’t drink that Kool-Aid,” said Salazar.

Rev. Patrick Demmer, a well-known Denver community leader, likened the issue to legalized marijuana. Even though the federal government hasn’t taken action on legalization, Colorado has taken steps in that direction.

“If it’s legal to smoke a blunt,” he said, “I know it has to be legal, it has to be legal to help children.”

pmarcus@durangoherald.com



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