Golden think tank

Drop bilingual education

Eliminating bilingual education and reforming welfare as ways to slow legal and illegal immigration in Colorado have been recommended by the Independence Institute, a conservative think tank based in Golden.

The institute estimates the number of illegal immigrants in Colorado varies from 17,000 to 60,000 people.

According to the institute’s report, which bases its arguments on the higher figure, providing education and welfare to illegal immigrants costs Coloradans nearly $ 70 million a year.

Neither the Immigration and Naturalization Service nor the Colorado Refugee Service Program confirmed the statistics used by the institute.

“I told them I had no reliable data,” said Laurel Bagan of the Refugee Service Program.

Said INS regional chief Joe Greene: “As far as I know, they haven’t called us. And we are the primary source on immigration.”

Institute President Tom Tancredo also said the numbers can’t be pinned down.

Tancredo said one of the most dramatic actions suggested by the paper was to eliminate bilingual education.

“It allows people to avoid acculturation. That’s why we’re having the balkanization of America.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.



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