Silverman misled on Boulder's reporting of illegal immigrants to ICE

Discussing an alleged gang-related shooting in Boulder and illegal immigration, 630 KHOW-AM's Craig Silverman on August 24 agreed that “Boulder is clearly a sanctuary city” and stated, “I don't think they have a policy of turning people over to ICE (U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement).” In fact, Boulder city and county reportedly combined to turn in more than 1,700 suspected illegal immigrants in the last six months of 2006.

On the August 24 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Caplis & Silverman Show, co-host Craig Silverman agreed with the contention that “Boulder is clearly a sanctuary city,” asserting, “I don't think they have a policy of turning people over to ICE,” or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In fact, according to a June 18 Rocky Mountain News article, in compliance with a Colorado law that “required all cities and counties to report any suspected illegal immigrants arrested or cited for crimes to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency,” the city of Boulder reported 161 inmates to ICE and Boulder County reported 1,548 from June through December of 2006.

Silverman and co-host Dan Caplis were discussing with a caller an alleged gang-related shooting, which the Boulder Daily Camera reported on in its August 24 edition. Beyond Boulder, Silverman stated he is “not aware of” any city in Colorado that has a policy of reporting illegal immigrants to ICE.

As the News noted, the law -- Senate Bill 90, enacted May 1, 2006 -- requires “law enforcement agencies to report by March each year how many people they referred to ICE the previous year.” According to the News, “Reports on file with state agencies and a Rocky Mountain News survey of police agencies show more than 15,000 people arrested or cited in Colorado between June and December 2006 were referred to ICE for investigation.” The News further reported that “Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said most counties gave ICE the names of anyone booked into the county jail born outside the U.S. The county submitted 1,548 names to ICE, the third highest in Colorado.”

From the August 24 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Caplis & Silverman Show:

CALLER: Dan, I got a question for you, and it's -- I'm not trying to be flippant, but I, I'm just curious what type of blinders you have on that, that, if you are aware that Boulder's known as a sanctuary city, then you ought to be aware they're going to have gang violence there.

CAPLIS: Hmm. Well, a couple of things. First of all, I think it's way too early to get deep into the immigration aspect of this, because I'm assuming everybody involved was there, is here legally. Maybe they aren't, but, but I think we need to wait to get those facts. Now, obviously, before this show, [caller], we tried to get those facts for you, but the Boulder Police Department isn't talking to us. The Boulder mayor's office isn't talking to us. The principal's office isn't talking to us. So, read into that what you wish, but I think it's better to wait until we get the paperwork and, and drill down to this. In terms of a sanctuary city, I -- you know, there you can get tied up in the semantics forever --

CALLER: Well, we don't have to even go there with, with that. It makes no difference to whether it's a sanctuary city or not. If you have a heavy population of, of low-income people in an area like that, it's going to be like a shiny apple to a kid. It's gonna attract that type of activity --

CAPLIS: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa --

CALLER: -- whether they're legal or not.

CAPLIS: Wait a second, brother! You know, I know that area.

[...]

SILVERMAN: I agree it's serious. A guy fires a gun in somebody's direction, and I'm glad they're taking it seriously. But [caller], you called to say that Dan is -- you said, Dan, Boulder is clearly a sanctuary city. And I'm not disagreeing with you. I don't think they have a policy of turning people over to ICE. But as I've asked since the outbreak of this whole illegal immigration story, when I hear Boulder or Denver named a sanctuary city, I'm gonna ask you, "What city in Colorado is not? Where do they have a different policy?" I'm not aware of it. And when I asked Tom Tancredo that he said, New Ipswich, New Hampshire, and OK -- New Ipswich, which had a trespassing law which was since tossed out of court. So we've got a federal problem with illegal immigration. I don't think it's fair to put it on Boulder.

CAPLIS: I think the question is, if a community is having problems that relate to people are here illegally, is the community doing everything within its power to protect its citizens?