AURORA — U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman addressed a packed church Sunday afternoon, discussing the future of immigration reform in America.
The Colorado Republican spoke at St. Pius X Catholic Parish to a predominantly Hispanic crowd, many sporting mini American flags.
The event was organized by Together Colorado, a nonpartisan, multiracial, multifaith community organization.
Speaking in Spanish, Coffman said he had been reaching out to the Hispanic community to “better understand your challenges.”
“A comprehensive immigration reform proposal must include three essential elements; it must secure our borders and provide for effective enforcement of our immigration laws, it must contribute to the economic growth of our country, and it must be compassionate in keeping families together,” Coffman said.
Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan told the crowd there are members of City Council, who, despite their political views, believe the immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed.
“It is unusual that the city would take the step of getting involved in a federal issue, but very simply, because the status quo isn’t working and because it does affect Aurora and this community, we are asking you to do what you can to help fix it,” Hogan told Coffman.
While an immigration bill passed the Senate, there are more concerns in the House, Coffman said.
“I think in the House side they’re probably more concerned about leadership in terms of securing the border,” he said.
While he would like the House to do “as much as we can,” Coffman said he hopes it isn’t all or nothing.
“We have people on the right who say, ‘I’m not going to support anything,’ and there are people on the left who say, ‘unless it has everything, I’m not going to support it,’ ” Coffman said.
“There may be something in the middle just to get something done to improve what is really a broken system,” Coffman said.
Ryan Parker: 303-954-2409, rparker@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ryanparkerdp
