January 21, 2011 12:18 AM UTC

The "Latino Alienation Act" Drops

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Colorado Independent’s Joseph Boven reports, the much-anticipated Colorado copy of Arizona’s embattled anti-immigration law was introduced yesterday by Sen. Kent Lambert–furthering the Colorado GOP’s evident goal of driving any lingering Hispanics out of the tent.

The long expected immigration bill by Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, sparked a firestorm of condemnation from local civil rights groups…

While the bill states that police officers may arrest individuals for immigration violations where there is probable cause to suspect they have committed a felony or are subject to immigration violation proceedings, the bill creates an overarching allowance for police officers to arrest anyone who is in the country illegally.

“A law enforcement officer may arrest a person without a warrant…if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has willfully failed to register with the federal government pursuant to 8 U.S.C. sec. 1301,” the bill states.

“We are against the bill,” said Steve Rodriguez, Colorado director of SOMOS Republicans, a national organization of Latino Republicans. “If they can arrest people without a warrant just because they think that person may be in the country illegally, then they can go to your house if they suspect you are an illegal immigrant.”

He predicted that if the bill becomes law it would lead to racial profiling and costly litigation. He said it would also undermine community policing efforts.

As Boven explains, Senate Bill 11-054 is the product of a trip by Republican legislators last year to Arizona, where they met with the author of that state’s SB-1070–a law that has been largely neutered by the courts as basic challenges to its constitutionality go forward.

Interesting to us is the fact that this bill was introduced in the state Senate, controlled by Democrats, as opposed to the GOP-controlled House. It seems very likely that SB11-054 will die a quick and unceremonious death in the Senate, never seeing the chance to get favorable grandstanding treatment from Frank McNulty’s House. It’s not like this bill could actually pass both chambers, let alone ever be signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper, but in Brandon Shaffer’s Senate it will be most unlikely to survive even its first committee appearance.

Is getting those few Democratic “kill committee” Senators on record really the point of this?

On the other hand, we’ve been clear on our opinion of efforts to replicate the public relations disaster Arizona signed up for with SB-1070, and what the push to pass unconstitutional, divisive legislation to appease a narrow segment of immigration hardliners means for the GOP’s long-term political viability. Bottom line: alienating the fastest-growing bloc of voters in the United States just doesn’t seem like the way to stay relevant. Is it possible that GOP House leadership has just enough situational awareness to stay clear of Lambert’s self-destructive actions?

If they are, they really need to say so–if they don’t, the Republican brand will still take the fall for Lambert’s grandstand. This is what’s leading off local TV news tonight, and it doesn’t look good.