The Yuma County Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution last week “opposing the entry, transportation, employment and settlement of illegal immigrants in Yuma County, Colorado.”
The action came during the commissioners regular meeting on March 12. Mike Leerar, board chairman, and fellow commissioners Scott Weaver and Adam Gates voted in favor.
It likely is mostly ceremonial as it is not clear how much legal weight the resolution holds.
However, the commissioners said they wanted it be known a rural county like Yuma does not have the resources for a big influx of illegal immigrants.
“The resolution we signed is intended as an open communication directed at the state level that the smaller county governments do not have the resources to accommodate any number of illegal immigrants coming into the country that the larger cities do,” a statement from the commissioners read, provided at the request of the Pioneer. “This resolution is to try to help protect the citizens and resources of Yuma County from the overwhelming numbers of illegal immigrants the Colorado state leaders have allowed into this state. We are concerned about the welfare of those illegal immigrants and the ability of Yuma County to provide for them.”
There have been rumors, with no evidence backing them, that certain facilities in Yuma County are being targeted as places to house a large number of illegal immigrants. The commissioners did not comment if those rumors had any bearing on the resolution.
The resolution’s language is straightforward.
It states that “President Biden and his Administration have failed to protect the citizens of the United States by securing our southern border,” as well as “Governor Polis has opened the State of Colorado to illegal immigration” and that “the unprecedented flow of illegal immigrants, drugs, and terror suspects into the United States and the State of Colorado…this influx of illegal immigrants will be unmanageable for the Yuma County Department of Social Services.”
The resolution states that the county “has a limited number of resources and funds to provide services, housing, healthcare, employment, transportation and the like…”
It concludes by stating the “Board of County Commissioners, on behalf of Yuma County, CO, hereby oppose illegal immigrants being relocated to Yuma County.”
Many jobs in Yuma County are filled by immigrants, or relatives/descendants of immigrants. It is not available how many are legal or illegal, or at least when first coming here.