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February 28, 2010 06:21 PM UTC

"Real people"? Andrew Romanoff and the immigration whitewash.

  • 16 Comments
  • by: Kiltartan Cross

Some people do not like to talk about values in politics. I believe our political values say something not only about where we believe our government can do better, but about us as individuals. I am not talking about using government to enforce a moral code. But I am talking about the moral implications of government policy.

I was ashamed to see Mike Miles endorse Andrew Romanoff. Mike Miles built his campaign on his courageous opposition to Bush’s war in Iraq. To see Mike Miles uncritically praise Andrew Romanoff, who twice endorsed the war and commended George Bush for waging it, is shameful. And doing so after he attacked Joan Fitz-Gerald over the same votes in 2008, destroys any and all of Mike Miles’s credibility.

But Mike’s email also talks about his care for “the needs of real people.” Once again, Mike Miles can only issue a blessing of Andrew Romanoff if he ignores the man’s horrific record in the state house when he led the way to demagogue and demonize undocumented individuals in our state–both citizen and non-citizen.

Andrew Romanoff was the driving force of the 2006 Special Session that was called in order to pass anti-immigrant legislation, and for no other purpose. In the Be The Change debate, Andrew Romanoff blatantly and cynically tried to whitewash his collaboration with John Andrews in killing DREAM Act legislation in Colorado.

Andrew Romanoff in 2006, as the Colorado Co-Chair of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC):

“This year, Colorado passed more bills to curb illegal immigration than any other non-border state in the nation.  We did more to solve the problem of illegal immigration than Congress has done in a decade.”

Andrew Romanoff in 2010, at the Be The Change Forum:

“In the Colorado legislature we killed a measure that would have denied citizenship to children who were here with their parents who didn’t have government documentation”

And he says nothing–let alone apologizes for–voting to kill in-state tuition? Or for passing his bill HB-1023–a financial and moral disaster? For for hurting our most vulnerable citizens when they needed help? Or for the entire 2006 Special Session? It leaves me with the belief that Andrew Romanoff has become just another cynical politician who will say anything to get ahead.

Since December, a public email from a Colorado immigration rights attorney who actually fights for “real people” has been spread widely to caring individuals who believe in upholding human dignity. It needs to be shared. Some things need to be said. I will paste it below.  

Hello All….

I wish I could share the enthusiasm for Mr. Romanoff, but since I spend seven days a week counseling families whose lives have been completely destroyed by inhumane immigration laws, including those passed in 2006 in Colorado , I refuse to endorse Mr. Romanoff.

Mr. Romanoff is no friend to immigrants.  That pleases some, but it should offend any of you who value human rights, human dignity, family unity, tolerance and justice.  He has demonstrated, on more than one occasion, that he is willing to sacrifice immigrants and families of immigrants, (which include US citizens) for political gain.   For example, in 2004/2005 he pledged his support to immigrants and their allies as we worked long and hard to obtain driver’s licenses for immigrants in Colorado . (Including speaking at a large immigrants rights conference in Denver , where he clearly stated, to great applause, his commitment to immigrant rights and that he would work with us to get licenses)  At the last minute he totally betrayed us, without even an apology, and did nothing to support the campaign or introduce legislation.

But you can’t top the 2006 legislative session, which produced a set of laws deemed “the toughest immigration legislation in the nation” and was praised by anti-immigrants as “the best [legislation] that could be obtained under the circumstances”.  (Defend Colorado Now website).  Thousands of Colorado residents continue to suffer under these repressive laws, which deny immigrants everything from a fishing license to heating assistance, lead to increased arrests, detentions and human rights violations of undocumented people in Colorado, gave legitimacy to immigrant bashing which results in increased hate crimes, and have caused hardships for poor families and individuals, including the elderly, the homeless, and veterans throughout the state.    

As one researcher noted, “virtually all close observers of Colorado ‘s 2006 summer immigration episode agree that it was all about politics, not policy. Over and over both legislators and pundits called the special session a “circus” and a “charade”.  (See John A. Straayer, CSU, Making Policy in the Dark)   Romanoff was a leader in this debacle, considers it a feather in his political cap, and congratulated himself and others on passing the “toughest illegal immigration package in the nation.” (See Romanoff quoted in Denver Business Journal, 7/11/2006)

I find the Colorado laws passed in 2006 to be nothing short of a political attack on immigrants resulting in a waste of time and money and causing harm to the community.  Romanoff’s role in this is indefensible.

Senator Bennet has demonstrated that he has the courage to speak his values and beliefs on issues affecting immigrants.  Since coming into office he has publicly stated his support for things like immigration reform, despite his precarious political position.  In fact, he has said that he will risk his political position in order to do the right thing on immigration and immigration reform.  THIS is what we need in a politician, someone with the courage to stand up for what is right regardless of what it does for their career, and whose concern is policy, not politics.  We do not need someone who has already demonstrated that he will sell out the most vulnerable for political gain.

Kim

Kimberly Baker Medina

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16 thoughts on ““Real people”? Andrew Romanoff and the immigration whitewash.”

  1. Pretty old news and one of the reasons Romanoff trying to position himself as a progressive champion, rather than a centrist not an iota to the left of Bennet, was such a joke. But I don't see this hurting much in 2014.

    The atmosphere of the time was quite different here in Colorado. He was pretty much reflecting the will of the majority at the time.  If anything, his bi-partisan accomplishments in the state legislature while he was in leadership will be more of a plus than a minus in a purple, not blue, district.  Many of our attitudes here in Colorado have evolved on this and many other issues since then. Why not Andrew's? It's not like it was last week or even in the last few years. 

    Regardless, he is so much preferable to Coffman and the prospect of retaking the US House one CD district at a time offers such a wealth of benefit for the whole country, it would be a terrible mistake to get in the way by doing anything that would make a Coffman win more likely.  

    We lost our terrific lawn service as a direct result of that legislation. We had no idea they were  undocumented, especially the American English speaking younger generation, until the new legislation scared them and they left Colorado. I was pissed as hell at Andrew's spoiler spiteful attempt to oust Bennet, already in place and with a much better chance of winning than Romanoff would have had, not least because his supposedly being more liberal was such a joke if you looked at his voting record.

    Still, I'm going to be all on board with Romanoff this time in this race and so should anyone who wants to oust Coffman and make a real run at taking back the House. The purity road is a road to nowhere. Especially in a district that still went for the R after re-districting made it more competitive. That's competitive, not blue. Andrew, over all is a good candidate, a good person and has the potential to be a strong enough candidate to win. As CD6er, both in the old and the new CD6, I would be very ticked off at any Dem standing between me and my very  first CD6 Rep. I'm in both the old and new CD6 because Romanoff  doesn't have a pure enough history on every issue.

      1. I'm clicking and nothing is happening. But I'm sure it was a post about why I wasn't supporting Romanoff, what a dick he was being, etc. I was really pissed at HRC in 2008 and never liked her much prior to that but I'd support her now.

        Circumstances change.  I'm sure Romanoff has learned a lot and HRC proved herself a sufficiently loyal member of the Obama administration since then. I won't apologize for anything I said then or for what I'm saying now, if that's what you're getting at. You could find really nasty stuff on HRC from back then.

        As far as general elections go there is simply no way any Dem candidate, no matter how imperfect, would not be  better than feeding the GOTP majority by voting for anybody the GOTP could possibly run. In case of a primary, I'll support the Dem I feel has the best chance to win in my district, not the most progressive or purest.  I think I was right about both Obama and Bennet then and am right about Romanoff now.

        1. Oh wait. I'm sorry. I forgot this link is just what appears when you put up an old comment. Just got home and got back on. I see I'm already there and that's why it's "not working". Silly me.

            1. Yeah, since this diary predates the new site (and the comment count is off by one extra), this must have appeared courtesy of the web site admin doing something funky.  

              But you are spot-on.  HRC in 2008 and Romanoff in 2010 were not the right time for either.  

              Big Ups for both in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

        2. A few weeks back somebody asked me why I would vote for Coffman over Romanoff if I cared about immigration.  This is all part of that analysis. 

          1. hmm… "analysis"

            If this post is meaningul…well, then the trick will be to determine which direction the GOTP will go on immigration, Coffman has never voted against his caucus.

            And if at the same time we can predict the poltically expedient – the claim is predicated upon Romanoff following the politically expedient path. Well then we can tell which and who and such.  glwt.

          2. @Elliot,  Hahahahahahahahahahahahah!  You're going to vote for Coffman because you are a Republican with delusions of free will.  No need for elaborate excuses.  You can kid yourself, but no one here is fooled.

            Coffman's gonna screw immigrants all day long whenever he gets the chance.  You don't want to believe that — fine.  Par for the course.

            Big whoopee.

            1. I voted libertarian for President in 2008 and Governor in 2010.  If Tancredo wins the nomination for governor, I'll vote libertarian for Governor again in 2014.  

              1. (and I am a registered libertarian for what it is worth – although I admit to having more connections with GOP types than Dem types on political stuff…I seek out both though)

              2. Thanks Elliot. Every rightie vote for a Libertarian or other third party candidate (what ever hppened to that joke "constitutional" party?) helps prevent a GOTP win. Thanks for all of your past and future support for Dem wins.smiley

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