Migrants don’t have to be a burden; let them work

Re: “Window washing offers migrants a lifeline,” Feb. 2 news story

While asylum-seeking migrants wait months or years for work permits, they add an enormous burden on taxpayers funding their government services. Migrants waiting for work permits and their families must be fed, housed, and clothed, and many need health care.

Too many end up living in homeless encampments, which are dangerous, reduce nearby property values, and too often negatively impact nearby businesses as customers and workers go elsewhere to avoid the encampments.

Some migrants resort to washing windshields, sometimes aggressively, in intersections, which is unsafe for both migrants and motorists.

Others, sadly, resort to crime. It’s not a good situation for anyone.

But it doesn’t have to be this way!

The humane solution to the problem is to end the authoritarian practice of denying migrants the right to earn an honest living. Migrants have a human right to work from the moment they set foot on U.S. soil. If there is a willing employer and a willing migrant worker, the government should butt out.

Permitting migrants to work immediately changes them from being a burden to contributors to the economy. Imagine no more migrant encampments and no more aggressive windshield washers at intersections. Give taxpayers a break by legalizing working for an honest living. The economy can expand to accommodate new workers.

Unemployment is low, but there is a worker shortage.

Now is the perfect time to end the barbaric practice of forcing peaceful people not to work.

Freedom — not authoritarian control — is the solution to society’s problems.

Re: “Don’t forget conservation, Xcel Energy,” Feb. 4 editorial

A clean energy transition is underway across our state. Xcel Energy is taking groundbreaking steps to become a netzero energy provider by 2050. While we make this transition, we have a responsibility to maintain a reliable, safe natural gas system while working on the next steps in emission reduction and technology advancement — whether that is achieved by beneficial electrification, clean fuels or reducing use with energy efficiency.

A policy such as that advocated by The Post in its editorial would increase energy providers’ financial risk and make it difficult to raise the money we need to invest in new clean energy. This would result in an energy system that is less clean, more expensive, and less dependable.

To date, very few customers (out of our 1.5 million customers in Colorado) have submitted applications to permanently disconnect from the natural gas system. We recognize those numbers could increase in the future, and we must prepare for largerscale changes without limiting customer choice or leaving our most vulnerable customers behind.

That is why we are committed to working side-by-side with policymakers to ensure the right regulations are in place to help facilitate customers’ move away from fossil fuels while simultaneously ensuring equity and affordability for all our customers. We are committed to supporting a cleaner energy future together.