Denver citizens try to help police, but Denver City Council objects

No surprise, since Denver, Colorado is one of the most prominent "sanctuary cities" where illegal aliens are considered welcome additions to the community no matter how they act or what they do.

The issue here is a citizen-driven ballot initiative that says that the police will impound any car being driven in Denver streets by someone without a license. Now if this law was only used to take cars from people who lost their licenses due to drunk driving convictions or bad driving records, there wouldn't be a problem with that. But the City Council--the ones who are supposed to reflect the will of their constituents--and several church groups have banded together to oppose this measure because they fear that it will take cars from illegal aliens since illegal aliens cannot get driver's licenses in Colorado.

According to this article on the issue, Denver Police report that as many as four cars in ten--40%--that they stop are driven by unlicensed--and uninsured--drivers.
When one of those people hits you or a member of your family, well you're just out of luck because there's no money for medical bills, lost wages, car repairs...nothing.

Still, pro-illegal Denver Councilman Paul Lopez says that this law is unnecessary because "it's already illegal to drive without a license". He says that 20,000 people were given tickets for this in 2007.

Well big deal, Paul. What does a ticket do to an illegal alien who more likely than not just gave the officer a fictitious name as illegals typically do? Sure, that ticket might actually stick to an American whose identity the police can actually confirm, but when an illegal gives a fake name or presents a phony ID card, that ticket is meaningless as he or she will never show up in court and you have no real idea about who they were. This is a common problem for law enforcement in areas with large numbers of illegal aliens and it creates a system where illegal aliens aren't punished for anything unless they actually do something serious enough to get them jailed. Tickets and citations requiring them to appear in court just get thrown away.

But this measure would remedy that, because the car being driven by the illegal would be impounded and could only be retrieved by a licensed driver who has to post a cash bond to get the car out. If the car is driven again within a year by another unlicensed driver, that bond is forfeited, otherwise it's returned. A measure like this has the ability to do what it's backers intend--reduce the number of unlicensed drivers--both citizens and illegal aliens--by hitting them with a heavy sanction that is fairly applied across the board. It's targeted at every unlicensed driver regardless of their citizenship status or the reason that they are unlicensed. It's just a shame that the Denver City Council and a few church groups--groups that shouldn't even be commenting on public policy--are objecting to this common-sense initiative only because it might impact the illegal alien community.

But the faith leaders and Denver advocates of immigrant rights said they were coming together to defeat a "discriminatory initiative that violates the values and principles held in common by Denver's religious communities."

Now since when are the values of the religious community supposed to be reflected in public policy? It's interesting that there are numerous church leaders weighing in on this and urging that the initiative be defeated, yet none of the usual anti-Christian liberal left is objecting to church involvement in this state matter. Of course the liberals never mind if candidates for elected office campaign in churches, so long as those candidates are Democrats. No, the only church-state connection that the church-haters oppose is anything to do with patriotism, our flag, nativity scenes on public property or any recognition of God in schools (Basically anything good). But if the churches can be used to help pass their agendas, then it's ok.

It's also a pity that the Denver City Council seems to have forgotten who it is that they actually represent--the taxpaying American citizens who voted them into office. Hopefully when they come up for re-election they'll learn that the illegal aliens that they have been pandering to can't and don't vote.