Remarks by John Andrews,Co-chair of Defend Colorado Now campaign, Jefferson County Republican dinner, Feb. 21
As a proud graduate of the Dick Cheney School of Safe Hunting, I hold my fire for all targets – except endangered species, liberals, and lawyers. And right now there’s one group of liberal lawyers I’m particularly unhappy with. They’ve asked the Colorado Supreme Court to block the most important ballot issue you will be asked to vote on in this election year.
That issue is called Defend Colorado Now. It is our chance to do something about the silent invasion of illegal aliens flooding into this country – perhaps as many as a quarter-million of them in this state alone.
This ballot issue would establish the simple principle that tax-paid services in Colorado should only benefit law-abiding residents. That’s just common sense, and it’s long overdue.
Yet the liberals want a court order saying we should not even be allowed to vote on this proposal. It won’t work. Our campaign will soon have a green light to circulate petitions. We will then need your help on gathering 100,000 signatures from concerned citizens who agree we must Defend Colorado Now.
Let’s be clear. Illegal aliens are not bad people individually. But when you count them up by the hundreds of thousands, they are bad news for Colorado. We need to send these individuals a message politely but firmly – if you defied the government to come here, don’t expect to live off the government once you get here.
This flood of illegal aliens hurts public budgets, it hurts family budgets, it endangers our national security, it erodes our American identity, and most important of all, it undermines the rule of law. For all these reasons, the flood must be stemmed. It must.
A crisis this big, ignored for this long, can’t be solved by state action alone. Federal action is imperative. But you and I at the state level can do our part by carrying the petitions this summer and then building the majority this fall to say that from now on, tax-paid services in Colorado should only benefit law-abiding residents.
Opponents may play the race card, but we all know that’s baloney. It makes no difference if the lawbreakers are Latino or Eskimo, Norwegian or Nigerian. Defend Colorado Now warns all of them, regardless of ethnicity -- if you defied the government to come here, don’t expect to live off the government once you get here.
We’re gathered for a party dinner, and proud of it – but please understand this is not a party issue. It has the support of former Gov. Dick Lamm and other active Democrats, as well as my support on the Republican side -- along with that of Tom Tancredo and that of Gov. Bill Owens. It is simply the right thing to do.
America will either have the rule of law, or we will be ruled by force and fear. That’s the choice that faces us if illegal immigration continues to run out of control. Please help us defend the rule of law. Please help us Defend Colorado Now.