Tribune Newspapers

GREELEY, Colorado -- Tom Selders is still baffled at how quickly the city he served for years turned on him.

The two-term mayor of this conservative farm town was a fixture on the local political scene for nearly two decades. A businessman who prided himself on bringing efficiency to city government, Selders infuriated his constituents after jumping into the national debate over illegal immigration. In May he spoke at a forum in Washington, D.C., about the effects of last year's immigration raid on a meatpacking plant here, which led to the detention of 262 undocumented workers.

"Many families and children were devastated by parents being arrested and detained," Selders said. "Children — citizens of the United States — were left without parents."

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