Time to Cross the Line

Once again states are spearheading the path to comprehensive immigration reform.  However, instead of expanding federal law, this time states are offering up bipartisan solutions.  On December 9, 2012, a bipartisan group of Colorado leaders signed The Colorado Compact which presents a “common sense” approach to immigration reform.  Supporters of the Compact included not only democrats, such as Senator Michael Bennet and Governor John Hickenlooper, but republicans, including former Governor Richard Lamm and Senator Bennet’s campaign opponent, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck. 

Colorado was not the first state to sign such a compact.  Three other states, including Utah, Indiana, and Maine, have also published compacts on immigration reform.  A fifth state, Iowa, has drafted an immigration compact, but has yet to sign it.  The Utah Compact was signed in November 2010, under the direction of Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.  Upon the signing of The Colorado Compact, Attorney General Shurtleff remarked, “As more states and regions adhere to the principles . . . ultimately that will support brave members in Congress on each side by doing the right thing.”

This is also not the first time that Colorado leaders have come together to develop and publish suggestions on immigration reform.  In 2009, the University of Denver formed the Strategic Issues Panel on Immigration which collected information and opinions from leaders in government, business, labor, law enforcement, and education among many industries to develop a list of 25 recommendations for reform “grounded in creating economic and social benefits to the nation as a whole while maintaining national security.”  The six principles presented in The Colorado Compact is a “bipartisan and rational solution” to fix our “broken” immigration system.

The message is clear that citizens, regardless of political standings, want Congress to act now and pass comprehensive immigration reform.  Action will require that both sides cross the proverbial line in the sand.  Utah’s Attorney General Mark Shurtleff observed that the Republicans who “had to stick their neck out” and “stood up and fought for comprehensive reform were all reelected” despite the backlash they received at the time.  The “Gang of Eight” in the senate is a manifestation of the lessons learned in the last election regarding immigration reform.  Consisting of both democrats and republicans, including Senator Bennet and Republic Senator Mike Lee of Utah, the Gang of Eight began meeting to discuss immigration reform in 2013 in December 2012.

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