Boulder resolution tackles AZ immigration law

The Boulder, Colo., City Council will discuss whether to accept a resolution from its Human Relations Commission that condemns Arizona for its new immigration law and continues a ban on non-essential city travel to the state.

The City Council on Tuesday is expected to discuss the resolution, which says that Arizona’s law will create racial profiling and threatens “basic notions of decency.”

Arizona’s law takes effect July 29 if it survives legal challenges. It requires police to question people about their immigration status while enforcing other laws if there’s reason to suspect someone is in the country illegally.

Boulder City Manager Jane Brautigam ordered a halt on “non-essential” city travel to Arizona in May and the new resolution asks city officials to continue the ban. The resolution by the commission, which offers recommendations to the council on matters including civil rights, blasts Arizona’s law, saying Boulder opposes “any acts of racism, bigotry, harassment and discrimination.”

In April, Denver Public Schools also announced a ban on employees taking district-sponsored work trips to Arizona, saying the community was “outraged” by the state’s new immigration law.

Supporters of Arizona’s law contend that the racial profiling concerns are unfounded and that the state’s policy has been triggered by the federal government’s failure to enforce immigration laws.

“While all local and state governments have the right and obligation to provide for the welfare and security of their residents,” the resolution states, “the enactment of laws of the type enacted by Arizona create the possibility of institutionalizing a practice of racial and ethnic profiling.”

Boulder officials say their decision to outlaw city travel has attracted a lot of attention. Mayor Susan Osborne said she’s received more than 2,000 mostly angry e-mails from people nationwide. Since May, almost 600 letters have been sent to the city, with 498 opposing the travel restriction and 81 supporting it, city officials said.