Letter to Senator Dave Schultheis in response to the immigrant tuition bill

Dear Senator Dave Schultheis,

Thank you for responding to our communications we sent regarding our support for the Colorado Immigrant Tuition Bill.   It is unfortunate that you will not recognize the decision of Martinez v. Regents of the University of California. Justice Ming W. Chin wrote that providing the in-state tuition benefit for any student—including an illegal immigrant—who attends a California high school for three or more years and graduates does not violate federal immigration law.  We stand on the precedence of the Courts with regard to our continued support for immigrant tuition.  It makes sense.  We want to encourage kids to be on a path to higher learning so that they can invest in themselves to be productive members of society.  We don’t encourage kids to stay on the street.

You wrote:

“In an attempt to continue to increase their favorability quotient with Colorado’s Hispanic population in the hope of increasing their voting base, Colorado’s Democrats have introduced SB11-126….”

What is holding you back from increasing the favorability quotient with Latinos?   You and fellow Republicans can take personal responsibility for the legislative decisions you make, too.  Does this have anything to do with your support for a non-Republican candidate over the Republican Candidate – Dan Maes, during the last November 2010 election cycle for the gubernatorial race?   In fact, you were for Dan Maes before you decided to be against him.

You have challenged my leadership with regard to developing a non-racially based group.  For the record, the government does not recognize Latinos as a “race”.  They recognize us as an “ethnic” based group.   We are not aware that government has terminated the official records of birth and death via the vital statistics program.   Apparently, the government still believes these records are essential for just administration of our law and for the protection of individual rights.

I believe you will be happy to find out that our group is not limited to Latino membership; in fact, we have Anglo leadership who are helping us register and motivate Latinos to participate more during elections.  We recognize that Latinos have not fully asserted themselves as strong voters during the primary election seasons and regular voting seasons.  We believe this is changing, and that is indicative with what occurred in Colorado in 2008 when over 200,000 new Latinos registered to vote.

Our group has a specific agenda in getting Hispanics to become more politically involved because we recognize that there is this need especially in the State of Colorado because you support anti-immigrant legislation.  Latinos need to be consistent voters in order to neutralize support for anti-immigrant legislation.    I will be more than happy to take on your challenge when I see you helping me target Latino neighborhoods, and registering them in droves as Republicans; but please be prepared to explain to them why you support the bigotry of Tom Tancredo.  This is what is great about our American Democracy and our Republic – to inspire others to participate in government elections as we continue to band together and make decisions that will guide our country on a healthy path.

Lastly, I invite you to take a look at our reasonable solution in solving the immigration issue.

Regards,