Colorado Fiscal Institute Video Highlights Pivotal Role of Immigrants Across the State

Last month, the Colorado Fiscal Institute produced a new video Immigrants Power Colorado’s Economy that highlights the pivotal role that immigrants play in Colorado communities and the vital impact of immigrants on Colorado’s economy.

“Immigrants power the economy, especially in Colorado where we have industries like tourism, hospitality, adventure, agriculture, ranching. These industries are driven by immigrant labor and they just don’t work if immigrants aren’t working,” explained Kathy White, Executive Director, Colorado Fiscal Institute.

“We saw that with a whole slew of anti-immigrant policies that passed in 2006, and the chilling effect that that had on the workforce in Colorado, where immigrants who typically come to Colorado and worked for a seasonal job and then moved out of the state, were no longer coming. We became known as a hate state for immigrants across the country, and that labor pool dried up. And because of that, the industries that need and rely on immigrant labor were unable to actually operate that year. We had everyone from ranchers and restaurant owners to ski lift operators crying out for the State to do something, because we really realized that immigrants again power the economy; and Colorado just doesn’t work without immigrants working.”

Immigrants are an essential workforce for industries across Colorado’s economy. However, immigrants face a variety of barriers that impede economic mobility and prosperity.

Immigrants power the economy, especially in Colorado where we have industries like tourism, hospitality, adventure, agriculture, ranching.”
Kathy White, Colorado Fiscal Institute.

Immigrants make up 10% of Colorado’s population and drive over 10% of our state’s economic output. Immigrants are essential to our communities and local economies. Thirteen percent of physicians in Colorado are immigrants, and 28% of construction workers in Colorado are immigrants. Immigrants play a crucial role in not only building homes and providing healthcare, but are also integral to Colorado’s service and transportation economies.

“Colorado had on its books a bill that was a ‘show me your papers law’ that basically allowed local police to stop and ask anybody that they suspected of being an undocumented immigrant to show them their papers,” explained White. “That would often lead to having them be jailed and then deported or placed into deportation proceedings. This law had been on the book since 2006. The Colorado Immigrants Rights Coalition (CIRC) and a lot of immigrant justice folks, came to CFI and said ‘what is this costing the state?’ And we did that report for them and in 2013, Colorado became the first State in the country to repeal its ‘show me your papers law’ and a lot of that had to do with the arguments that we were able to make on the fiscal and economic costs of that bill,” explained White.

The Colorado Fiscal Institute found that the State spent upwards of $13 million per year to enforce federal immigration laws, or SB 90. With leadership from the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and with date support from the Colorado Fiscal Institute’s research team. Community members and advocates repealed SB-90 in 2013.

The Colorado Fiscal Institute’s video Immigrants Power Colorado’s Economy was produced by Paula Vargas, Producing Visions; Sophie Shea, Colorado Fiscal Institute; and Alvina Vasquez, PowerMap Ltd. Watch the full video here.