Republicans call for immigration reform in Colorado following Boulder attack

Yahoo

2 days ago

DENVER (KDVR) — Reactions are still pouring in from across the world in light of the attack on a group marching in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Politicians responded Monday, too, with some calling on policy reform here in Colorado.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are condemning the attacks, but Republicans here at home in Colorado and in Congress are calling in state leaders to reform immigration laws after Homeland Security announced the alleged perpetrator had overstayed his visit.
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'Complete shock and disbelief that something so terribly inhumane can happen to people in 2025,' said Colorado state Representative Ron Weinberg was disgusted and disheartened when he learned of the attack in Boulder. The Jewish representative immigrated to the U.S. from South Africa as a young man.
'I try to not put identity politics first. I try to make sure I'm a lawmaker for the city of Loveland and the state of Colorado first and kind of federal policy and everything else aside must be dealt with on the federal level. That's where I try to deal with that. But when it comes to my families and my heritage, my whole family was affected by the Nazis,' Weinberg said.
Weinberg says he doesn't want to politicize the issue so soon, but he says he does understand the frustration over Colorado's immigration laws.
'There is some truth behind the three branches of government in this state: the executive, the legislative and judicial branches being sort of run by one party. And the checks and balance system in this state, there is no check and balance. Without making this political, Democrats and Republicans need to come and work together to sort these issues out,' said Weinberg.
Sentiments echoed by his former colleague, who now serves in Congress, Congressman Gabe Evans.
'An individual like this who was present in the United States and has been planning this attack from upwards of a year, we probably could have stopped this if we didn't have the limitations on the sanctuary state that we have here in Colorado,' said Evans.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Mohamed Soliman, the alleged perpetrator in Sunday's attack, was in the U.S. illegally from Egypt. According to DHS, he came to the U.S. in 2022 under a tourism visa. They say that his B-2 visa expired in February 2023, though he had been trying to seek asylum in the U.S. since September of 2022. Congressman Evans blames Colorado's immigration laws for the attack, despite the state never identifying as a sanctuary state and DHS removing a list that had most Colorado counties identifying as such.
Suspect charged with federal hate crime after attacking pro-Israel group in Boulder
'These sanctuary laws handcuff law enforcement in their ability to go out and work with their federal counterparts to get violent criminals like this and outright terrorists like this individual that we saw commit this crime up in Boulder. They can't get them out of the community if they can't work with ICE,' Evans said. 'Federal, state and local law enforcement need to be able to share information with each other. So my advice to the statewide Democrats in Colorado is get with the program and allow state and local law enforcement to work with their federal counterparts. Otherwise, you are helping other antisemitic terrorists commit crimes like what we saw in Boulder.'
In a Truth Social post, President Donald Trump said the incident is 'Another example why we must keep our borders secure.' Congressman Evans is asking state lawmakers to repeal the immigration laws that are currently in statute.
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