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| Hispanics Protest Bill Giving Police Power Over Immigration Law
By Francisco Miraval
Agencia EFE, May 1, 2002DENVER (EFE) -- Hispanic leaders in Denver on Tuesday announced a protest campaign against a bill - HB 1448 - that would give law enforcement officers the power to detain those who may be violating immigration laws.
The bill is an anti-terrorism plan that focuses on detaining illegal immigrants. HB 1448 will create more problems between the police and the community without resolving the problem of immigration, said Danielle Short, the Colorado program director for Rights for All People (RAP), the organization coordinating the protest campaign.
What makes this bill even worse is that it is a way to legalize discrimination against Hispanics, she said.
HB 1448, sponsored by Republican Congressman Don Lee, would give state, county and city police the right to apply immigration laws by detaining illegal immigrants.
Short says that this proposal would force police to take on additional responsibilities for which they are not prepared, thus creating confusion and provoking unease and misunderstandings between the police and the immigrant community.
Police need community cooperation if they want to obtain the information they need to protect the public, Short said.
If immigrants fail to cooperate with police for fear of being identified as illegal immigrants, law enforcement officers will not be able to carry out their duties and arrest the real criminals, the RAP director said.
The campaign against HB 1448 began on Tuesday with dozens of Hispanic leaders marching to the capital building in Denver to urge Hispanics to register to vote.
The Hispanic leaders have also asked Latinos to run for various posts in the upcoming November elections.
Less than 20 percent of the Hispanics who are eligible to vote participated in the 2000 elections, and this is "unacceptable," Tom Sena, the coordinator of Colorado's Latino Vote 2000 Project, said.
Due to Hispanic apathy, there are not enough Latino candidates, and this enables certain legislators and interested groups to present bills like HB 1448 and block bilingual education programs in Colorado, Sena said.
Sena wants to educate Hispanics so that they understand the importance of voting, understand the registration process and understand how to participate.
With more Hispanics voting and being elected into the legislature, laws like these will not have a chance, he said.
On Wednesday, May 1, all of th e main immigrants' rights organizations will participate in a march on the Denver City Hall.
Among these groups are Jobs with Justice, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Regional Carpenters' Council, Progressive Coalition of Colorado and the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
It is important that we continue to put on the pressure and talk with the legislators about immigrants' rights, Whitney Self, SEIU policy director in Denver, said.
Legislators need to throw out HB 1448 and other similar bills, she said, adding that they need to stop using the excuse of terrorism to continue with their attacks against immigrant workers who not only contribute to the local economy but also make the American dream possible.
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