Weld County DA manages to alienate Hispanic community

A contrite Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck (who recently made a guest appearance in this post) has apparently gotten dope-slapped by local Republicans worried about alienating the Hispanic community in the county. The last thing the county party wants is an incentive for them to go to the polls.

Rocky Mountain News:

Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck apologized Thursday for seeking a federal immigration office to crack down on undocumented criminals without talking to the Hispanic community.

"I have made some serious mistakes," said Buck, who won support for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Greeley from Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, Sen. Wayne Allard, both R-Colo., and the county commissioners.

It makes sense creating more Federal capacity in Colorado to hold arrested illegal immigrants bound for deportation, when currently such costs are being distributed to state and local jurisdictions. The question is whether targeting facilities and enforcement in specific communities that just happen to have high concentrations of Hispanics makes for good policy. Nonetheless, Buck's artless grandstanding has energized a community that a dominant county party would rather stay at home on Election Day.

About 35 percent of Weld County is Hispanic, according to census estimates.

Buck's proposal had that whiff of race-baiting that was then powerfully refuted by the constituents he would be better off serving.

A Hispanic military veteran said that Mexicans have fought in many of America's wars, including Iraq. Several people said an ICE office in Greeley would result in harassment of Hispanics whose families have lived in the area for generations.

"Those agents are not going to sit in their office waiting for people to call them," said Sylvia Martinez. "The number of illegals involved in gangs here doesn't justify an ICE office."

Buck was smart to apologize, but will Democrats be able to generate momentum from this?

See also Denver Post and Greeley Tribune.

Comments

[M. Douglas Wray]

Weld County is really an embarrassment...!

You'd think all that money would buy some class/wits... seems to only foster hobnailed-boot fascism.

I wonder if all the wealthy homeowners would consent to having their landscaping crews checked? A lot of small-time landscapers are totally ruthless about hiring ONLY spanish-speaking men from SHELTERS (golly!) who have NO IDEA what their rights as workers are or what reasonable pay rates are.

Want to control illegals? Encourage labor unions instead of villifying them. Oh, wait, that would mean paying FAIR WAGES.

Can't have THAT.