Schultheis: boycott Boulder until city starts enforcing laws

Colorado Springs Republican Sen. Dave Schultheis was disappointed--but not surprised--to learn the city of Boulder has piled onto the Arizona boycott by suspending employee travel to the state on business. The boycott is in response to new immigration enforcement legislation recently enacted in Arizona.

"Boulder has a history of looking the other way when it comes to enforcing the law," Schultheis said. "Not only does Boulder act like a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants, but its District Attorney allows an illegal needle exchange program to operate right under his nose, and the City Council recently voted to exempt topless women from a city ban on public nudity."

Until Boulder starts enforcing its laws, Schultheis said, people should boycott visiting or spending money there. "It is unbelievably ironic that a city where the laws mean nothing is trying to take what is believes to be the moral high ground here and reprimand our neighbors for acting well within their rights to actually demand that the law be enforced," he concluded.

The Boulder travel ban isn't the first frivolous or misguided response to the Arizona immigration law. Last week, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, a Boulder Democrat, compared Arizona to Nazi Germany, and characterized Arizona as "a police state." The superintendent of Denver Public Schools also got into the act last week, spending precious time and resources developing a politically-motivated travel ban--despite the fact that only around half of its students graduate from high school on time.

The Arizona law, which enjoys broad public support, requires police to check with federal authorities on a person's immigration status, if officers have already stopped that person for some legitimate reason and have a reasonable suspicion that the person might be in the U.S. illegally. The law makes clear that if the person produces a valid driver's license or other state-issued identification--something nearly every American and legal resident possesses--they are presumed to be in the United States legally.