Colorado's immigrant guide

Apparently, it isn't just Mexico that is helping illegal immigrants:

Colorado Gov. Bill Owens has removed an online pamphlet from the state Web site that offered advice in Spanish to illegal immigrants on living and working in Colorado.

Titled "¡Entérese!" which means "Inform Yourself," the 50-page pamphlet was posted on the Colorado Department of Education Web site until Monday, when the governor's office had it removed after criticism from advocates for tighter borders.

The 2003 guide, which included a welcome message from Mr. Owens and the Mexican consul general, was intended to offer advice to legal immigrants, said Mr. Owens' spokesman, Sean Duffy.

But the guide wound up resembling a "how-to" manual for illegal aliens, providing them with tips on how to obtain medical care, open a bank account, earn university scholarships, and deal with police and other authorities.

"The way it was described to us was that it would be a tool for recent arrivals — I'm assuming legal arrivals," Mr. Duffy said.

"... The booklet is dedicated to doing a good thing, which is to help recent arrivals assimilate. But clearly, there are some sentences that are inappropriate."

Terry Graham, a Denver illegal-immigration opponent who stumbled upon the guide last weekend while searching the Internet, compared it to "The Guide for the Mexican Migrant," the comic book-style pamphlet issued last year by the Mexican government that offers advice on how to cross il legally into the United States.

She criticized Mr. Owens earlier for giving the guide his seal of approval.

"It's totally inappropriate for the governor of Colorado to endorse a how-to guide for illegal invaders," said Miss Graham, who posted the guide over the weekend, with English translations, on vdare.com, an anti-illegal immigration Web site.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican, sent a letter to Mr. Owens on Monday asking him to remove the booklet from the Education Department's Web site and to stop any other agencies from promoting it.

"Judging from the specific advice offered, the booklet is quite obviously aimed at illegal aliens more than legal immigrants," said Mr. Tancredo, an advocate for tighter borders. "It tells illegal aliens how to take maximum advantage of Colorado's government-funded social services and how to seek employment at companies that will not try to verify their documents."