DenverPost.com
WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom Tancredo urged federal immigration officers Tuesday to begin checking individuals seeking identification cards from the Mexican consulate in Denver and detaining any illegal immigrants they find.
The Littleton Republican, an outspoken immigration critic, challenged Michael M. Comfort, acting district director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, to act immediately.
"You and your INS colleagues have been ignoring ... this assembly of illegal immigrants occurring right under your nose," Tancredo told Comfort in a letter released by his Washington office. "Your inaction is telling the citizens of Denver and of Colorado that the immigration laws of the United States are null and void within the Denver district."
Hundreds of immigrants have been gathering at the consulate since the city of Denver said it would accept "matriculas consulares" issued by the consulate as official identification for obtaining everything from a library card to a building permit.
While the INS cannot stop people from entering the consulate, agency policy "clearly permits you to question people as they exit the property where there is a probable cause for doing so," Tancredo wrote.
"In this case, there definitely is an adequate presence of a probable cause because a significant number of people have been inside for the express purpose of obtaining a matricula consular," he said.
If the INS rejects his request, Tancredo will request an oversight hearing by the House Judiciary Committee, said his spokeswoman, Lara Kennedy.
Posted by Suzanne at October 23, 2002