February 10, 2011 08:23 PM UTC

Even More Opportunities For GOP Latino Alienation

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• by: Colorado Pols

We talked yesterday about the imminent demise of Rep. Randy Baumgardner’s Arizona-copycat immigration bill, HB-1107. We’ve explained that these GOP immigration bills, for the sake of the Republicans Party’s long-term viability, should die as quickly as possible, and from what we can see, it appears that GOP House Speaker Frank McNulty agrees. A similar bill in the Senate from Kent Lambert, SB-54, is expected to meet a quick death in committee early next week.

But as the Colorado Independent reports today, McNulty’s got a few more moles to whack:

A host of immigration rights advocates congregated outside of a house committee room yesterday hoping for the opportunity to speak to HB 1107. While those hopes were dashed when the decision came out that the bill was to be laid-over until Monday, many acknowledged that even if the bill does die, as sponsor Randy Baumgardner, R-Hot Sulphur Springs,  has said it will , they would have numerous opportunities to speak to the subject throughout the session.

Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition Director of Communications Alan Kaplan explained that his group still planned to come out in protest of not only 1107 but  SB 54, which gives police the power to arrest suspected illegal immigrants. His group also plans to stage a rally in upcoming days.

Other groups such as the Colorado Progressive Coalition and ACLU of Colorado, also present yesterday, have expressed similar concern for bills that appear to create a semblance of HB 1107 through a more piecemeal process including HB 1140 and HB 1188…

So that’s, let’s count them up, one, two, three, four Arizona-style immigration bills, plus another mentioned by the Independent’s Joseph Boven, HB 1149, proposing even more document verification. So that’s five Republican-sponsored anti immigration bills, and we can’t claim to have gone through all of the bills introduced this session. For example, this doesn’t include Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s first citizenship verification for voting bill that died late last month.

Bottom line: if McNulty does agree, as we’ve heard, that an “Arizona copycat” anti-immigrant campaign represents long term GOP political suicide via the alienation of the fastest growing bloc of voters in the United States, he really needs to say something to his colleagues. Every time one of these “Republican sponsored” bills gets press, even to report they’ve been killed, voters Republicans will need in the next election–and the next generation–come off the table.