State rep. hosts town hall meeting.
thornton» There was more on the agenda than cupcakes and pastries Saturday afternoon during State Rep. Joe Salazar’s town hall meeting at Delight Me Sweets bakery.
Among other things, the Democratic legislator focused on two House bills addressing the issues of immigration and hate crimes.
HB 1230, labeled the Ralph Carr Bill after the former governor who stood up for Japanese internees during World War II, would prevent state officials from providing any information about a resident’s race, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status or religious affiliation to the federal government without a legal or constitutional purpose. The bill passed the House 7-4 and is now under review by the Senate.
Mona Cedillo of Westminster said she was worried about her father, who is a citizen but immigrated to the United States. She fears that he could be put on a “list” and may be targeted for the way he looks and speaks.
“My father was born in Mexico and he still has an accent and I worry, as his daughter, that he could be pulled over or something like that just because of the way he looks,” she said.
Salazar was confident the bill would pass and said it would be because of “sheer prejudice” if it did not.
“It would actually help law enforcement,” he said. “We’ve heard from some police officers (that) victims wouldn’t report crimes anymore if they were put into a category. We don’t want that.”
HB 1138 would require the Department of Public Safety to report hate crimes in its annual “State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act.” Salazar said since the election, some people feel emboldened and the nation and Colorado have seen a significant rise in hate crimes.
“We haven’t seen a rise like this in a long time,” he said. “There have been antiSemitic things written and women having their hijabs ripped off and all kinds of other instances. We want law enforcement tracking this.”
Susana Cabrera is an English-Spanish language teacher at McElwain Elementary School in Denver and said she was surprised to hear from Salazar and other town hall attendees that bias-motivated crimes were happening in Colorado.
“It’s shocking to hear it’s happening here because you think it’s just in big places like California,” she said.
Cabrera was also concerned about immigration issues and said that some of her students have asked her what to do if they see Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Salazar suggested that people complete “Know Your Rights” training and call police.