Immigration

Special session compromise gets specific on public services for undocumented immigrants

Articles: Coming next week: Bell Policy Center???s Blueprint for Opportunity, Colorado children without private insurance are more likely to die after hospitalization, Effectiveness of No Child Left Behind act difficult to determine, Teen obesity depends on neighborhood support. . .

Articles: Implementing Colorado???s new immigration laws tricky for Western Slope officials, Bell Action Network hosts online Voter???s Guide to the 2006 ballot, Self-affirming writing exercise may help close student achievement gap, Report identifies 10 reasons ???Why Small Works in Public Schools,??? National report finds persistent racial gaps in educational attainment, Colorado flunks higher education affordability. . .

Articles: New Colorado citizenship law tough on low-income citizens, costly, The Opportunity Agenda and what was NOT on the ???06 ballot, Wanted: Highly qualified teachers, CCHE approves new financial aid policy, State Health Care Reform Commission begins work, Citizens??? Health Care Working Group recommends access to health care for all Americans, Health insurance premiums rise at twice the rate of inflation, New Colorado minimum wage, What is the best way to promote financial literacy?

Articles: Legislature considers full plate of opportunity-related education bills; Free school breakfasts help hungry kids start the day fed and ready to learn; Eligible citizens denied services due to new identification requirements; Earned Income Tax Credit payouts stimulate local economies; www.thebell.org gets a functional overhaul

New findings from the Bell Policy Center show that undocumented immigrants in Colorado pay $159 million to $194 million in state and local taxes, an amount equal to 70 to 86 percent of their K-12 education, emergency health care and incarceration costs.

"The action of the Colorado Supreme Court saved Colorado voters from an expensive campaign on what even the initiative???s supporters agreed was a purely symbolic measure,??? said Wade Buchanan, president of the Bell Policy Center. ???It would have been a campaign centered on a false choice.???

HB 06-1062 represents a net opportunity loss for Colorado. School-age children have a right to an education, regardless of their immigration status. Collecting the desired data could create a chilling effect on some students??? school enrollment, due to concerns about being identified as undocumented, or having their parents identified as such.

A Boulder Daily Camera commentary by Wade Buchanan, recently pummelled on CNN's "The Lou Dobbs Show," looking at the dysfunctional immigration system in America and the need for reform.

A proposed constitutional amendment that would restrict undocumented immigrants from receiving any services from public programs in the state.