By Cory Applegate | Guest Columnist
El Paso County recently saw two busloads of immigrants here illegally come down from Denver. Since Denver’s sanctuary city policies create their own fiscal burden, they now claim they cannot afford to keep taking care of lawbreakers they attracted in the first place. The hospitals in the Denver area gave away $136 million in care last year, which will never be paid back by those with no income or insurance.
While Denver’s hospitals teeter on the edge of bankruptcy, President Joe Biden refuses to shut down the border. With more than 8,000 illegal crossings per day, none of which are going through a proper port of entry, El Paso County needs to prepare themselves for the inevitable. A distant problem at the southern border is now becoming a present problem here. Rather than just complain, I offer these solutions to fix the illegal immigration issue in El Paso County.
- Send the buses back to Denver. We as citizens need to urge the Colorado Springs City Council to make a resolution to send the migrant buses that come down from Denver, back to Denver. It is Denver’s problem. The mayor and City Council in Denver want to be a sanctuary city, they need to be responsible. If Denver wants to waste its taxpayer dollars, let it. Colorado Springs and surrounding areas do not need to expend our resources on Denver’s problem. If Colorado Springs sends the buses back it could be seen as a warning shot to Denver, and cause them to hesitate before repeating their mistakes.
- The county commissioners need to make a resolution to support the Sheriff’s Office. The El Paso County Commissioners should authorize deputies to detain, arrest, and deport verified lawbreakers, as the U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed local Texas law enforcers to do. We can follow the lead of other counties such as Park County who voted to make its county nonsanctuary. Also the need for an ICE detainment agreement is vital. Sheriff Jason Mikesell did it in Teller County, and El Paso County needs to follow suit.
- Camping ordinance: El Paso County needs a camping ordinance that requires permits to pitch a tent on public land. Citizens would easily qualify, but noncitizens likely wouldn’t even apply, giving law enforcement another tool by which to prevent tent cities popping up everywhere in our county. If a business or nonprofit houses illegal immigrants in a tent city, they would be subject to fines. If you hit someone in the pocketbook as a general rule they start listening.
In conclusion, I am willing to work with any of the local leaders in El Paso County to try and achieve these goals. We want to keep citizens safe and stop rampant drug and human trafficking that we know is coming up from our southern border. It’s time for the local government to step up and make a good change in helping keep citizens safe. In the meantime, the current administration has no plans in fixing this immigration crisis, and city and state officials in Denver seem to be in lockstep with Biden’s open-borders policy. When big government refuses to fix this, our local government can provide solutions from we the people.
Cory Applegate is a Fountain city councilman and a candidate for El Paso County Commissioner District 4.