Press Release - Ritter Record Clear on Prosecution of Undocumented Immigrants

Press Release - Ritter Record Clear on Prosecution of Undocumented Immigrants

Gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter declared today that his record is crystal clear surrounding the aggressive prosecution of undocumented immigrants.

"We enforced the law, protected the public and served taxpayers well," said Ritter, Denver's top law officer from 1993 to 2005. "That's more than I can say about Congressman Beauprez and the utter failure of Washington D.C. to enact substantive immigration reform."

During his tenure as District Attorney, Ritter's office maintained a 95 percent conviction rate and sent more than 12,000 felons to prison. Ritter said most contacts with undocumented immigrants involved drug cases, and about 10 percent of all drug defendants were undocumented immigrants.

To ensure that undocumented immigrants were prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, Ritter enacted tough policies and partnered with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now Immigration and Customs Enforcement) whenever possible. As District Attorney, Ritter:

* Assigned investigators to conduct thorough background checks on all drug suspects and then notify INS/ICE by fax of any suspected undocumented immigrants. This amounted to about 10 notifications a week.

* Refused to provide specialized Drug Court services to suspected undocumented immigrants.

* Directed courtroom prosecutors to request 90-day jail holds on undocumented-immigrant defendants facing sentences of just probation. The jail time gave prosecutors additional time to notify INS/ICE and request that the defendants be picked up so that deportation proceedings could be initiated at the federal level.

* For all drug-related felony convictions, the DA's Office would make additional notification to INS to ensure that the federal government could initiate criminal proceedings in the case of future illegal re-entry.

* Requested five-year state prison sentences for drug defendants who had prior felony convictions and had previously been deported.

"Undocumented immigrants were prosecuted just as firmly as everyone else," Ritter said. "They received no special treatment. They were punished and held accountable under state law, and then we referred them to the federal government for deportation. But many times, the INS failed to pick up these individuals for deportation - another example of Washington D.C. failing to live up to its responsibilities."

* Received letters of commendation from then-INS District Director Joseph R. Greene, praising the work of Denver prosecutors and the Drug Court. From Jan. 1 to March 31, 1995, alone, 57 undocumented immigrants were ordered deported after being identified through the Drug Court. From July 1 through Sept. 10, the figure was 58. (After 1995, the INS stopped providing figures.)

"Congressman Beauprez would do well to focus on the failures of Washington D.C. instead of continuing to distort and misrepresent my record," Ritter said. "The Congressman has spent four years in Congress and done nothing to advance substantive immigration reform while we in Colorado enacted the toughest immigration laws in the state during last month's special legislative session.

"Now he wants to lead a group of governors back to Washington to lobby Congress for immigration reform instead of actually doing something while he's in Congress. That's not only absurd, but many of his positions contradict those of the Western Governors' Association. Once again, he's trying to have it both ways: tough talk on the campaign trail but no action in Washington."

http://www.ritterforgovernor.com/news.cfm