Republicans failed to get their act together to find a legislative solution for Dreamers. Immigration reform is dead for now, leaving Dreamers in limbo, waiting for a fix before the looming threat of deportation turns into more than a simple threat. And while many House Republicans launched efforts to pass a bipartisan solution for Dreamers, some of those same congressmen, including Colorado’s own Rep. Scott Tipton, abandoned their principles by voting in favor of a separate proposal, Rep. Goodlatte’s Securing America’s Future Act.
The Goodlatte bill would have resulted in a 38 percent annual reduction in legal immigration and failed to offer a viable path to citizenship for our nation’s nearly 800,000 Dreamers. Thank goodness the bill was an overwhelming failure.
Studies show that immigrants not only increase productivity and economic growth but raise wages for native-born Americans as well. They keep our workforce flexible, help companies grow faster and increase the productivity of our workers. While highly-skilled immigrants provide enormous impacts on our economy, less-skilled immigrants contribute as well by complementing the native-born workforce, performing different categories of work, primarily because of language skills. Drastic cuts to legal immigration channels would severely harm Colorado’s economic growth.
Tipton has a history of supporting initiatives that seek to benefit our state’s economy. So, the real question is, why did he support the Goodlatte bill?
Tipton should be actively pushing to find protections for legal immigrants. If he won’t stand up for Colorado’s Dreamers, let’s elect someone else who will.
Danny Lopez
Durango
