The backlog of migrant asylum claims in Colorado has quadrupled under the Biden/Harris administration to some 78,000 thanks to the Democrats’ open border policies.
A new report by The Colorado Sun that explores those numbers would have us believe the backlog is caused by not having enough immigration lawyers in the state.
And yet it’s unrealistic to believe that some 60,000 asylum cases dating from 2021 could have possibly moved any swifter through the federal courts in Aurora and Denver.
The heaviest burden is the language differences — it’s hard enough to navigate the federal bureaucratic system when one’s first language is English, nearly impossible for those who don’t.
But we’re guessing it’s also difficult to prove one is seeking asylum for the required claims of persecution “because of race, religion, political opinion or social group,” when the vast majority are simply looking for jobs to earn for their family.
Of the pending cases, all but 1,540 are from Latin American countries. The breakdown rounds out to 31,000 from Venezuela, 14,000 from Columbia, and about 11,000 from Mexico.
The remaining 17,000 are from Nicaragua, Peru, Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba, El Salvador, and Ecuador.
The U.S. does not provide free lawyers for foreign national to make immigration claims like we do for citizens accused of committing crimes. Only government lawyers on the other side of these proceedings are paid for through Congressional appropriations.
And no, the so-called bipartisan immigration bill that only one Republican voted for would not have funded lawyers for the migrants.
But Colorado taxpayers now do, thanks to the Democrat-controlled legislate and Gov. Polis who passed a law just as the border floodgates opened in 2021 to pay for so-called public defenders in immigration court.
So far, we’ve paid $700,000 into the Immigrant Legal Defense Fund operated by the state labor and employment department.
The Sun reports they have helped less than 200 immigrants in less than two years.
It does make total sense for the legal defense funds to be overseen by the state’s labor and employment department instead of through the justice system.
Because they’re not here for justice as dictated by our asylum system.
They’re here to find jobs that pay better than their home country.