Hispanic legislator has given up trying to get in-state college tuition status for illegal immigrants

Bill Scanlon:

Rep. Val Vigil, D-Thornton, said he had plenty of backers in both parties but not enough clout for the measure to both pass the legislature and withstand a potential veto by Gov. Bill Owens.

And that's because not enough Hispanics vote, he said. Fewer than half the eligible Hispanics in Colorado voted for president in 2000, he said.

Vigil wants illegal immigrants who have gone to high school in Colorado for at least three years to qualify for the same in-state tuition as their classmates who are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants.

"It's frustrating," Vigil said after withdrawing his bill. "Participation by Hispanics in politics in Colorado is very low."

Vigil said he isn't talking about the illegal immigrants who aren't allowed to vote or Hispanics who have been here for several generations. He has in mind the thousands of people in Colorado who won amnesty in 1986 and won citizenship a few years later, but still by-and-large don't vote.

If more Hispanics were registered voters, Gov. Owens would have a tougher time vetoing the bill, Vigil said. As it is, "he won't even meet with me" to discuss a version of the bill he would consider signing.

But Vigil also said he would feel more comfortable urging his Democratic colleagues to back the bill if it had more demonstrable support among voters.

About half a million people from Mexico live in Colorado, according to the Mexican consulate. About half of them are here legally.

And, of course, if Vigil's bill had become law that would have encouraged even more Mexicans to cross the border illegally to live in the United States.