Consulate library use blasted

The Pikes Peak Library District risks helping illegal immigrants by letting the Mexican government use one of its buildings, state Rep. Dave Schultheis said.

The district has offered free use of a room in its Sand Creek branch Saturday for officials from the Mexican Consulate in Denver to issue passports, identification and other services.

“This event is a maneuver to obscure the fact that this local government is potentially aiding those in this country illegally,” Schultheis said in a statement issued Friday. “The library should not place itself in that position.”

A library official on Monday dismissed the allegation. Spokeswoman Dee Vazquez said the library allowed free space to the Mexican Consulate on two occasions last year. The Mobile Consulate events also take place around a vehicle parked outside the library, she said.

The library frequently provides space for nonprofit groups and other agencies that offer public services, Vazquez said.

“It’s business as usual for the library district, nothing out of the ordinary, as far as we’re concerned,” she said.

Schultheis’ statement said federal law prohibits helping, assisting or encouraging illegal aliens. He said Monday that wasn’t meant to suggest the library was violating the law.

Schultheis is a Colorado Springs Republican who in recent years has become one of the state’s most vocal opponents of illegal immigration. He visited the Arizona-Mexico border in October and met with volunteer groups that try to draw attention to illegal immigrants.

Schultheis said constituents sent him e-mail messages last week complaining about the Mexican Consulate event.

“Allowing the Mexican government use of the library at taxpayer expense is an affront to the citizens of Colorado,” his statement said.

Saturday’s event is for people who live in El Paso, Teller, Pueblo, Elbert, Douglas, Park, Fremont and Lincoln counties.

Consulate staff members will issue the controversial “matrícula consular” ID cards. Opponents in this country criticize the cards, saying they give a measure of legitimacy to illegal immigrants.

Consulate spokeswoman Evaluz García-Burgos said Monday that the cards are used only to identify Mexican citizens who live abroad.

Colorado lawmakers in 2003 passed a measure to ban government agencies from accepting any ID except those issued by a government in the United States. Some private organizations still accept the cards, however. Many banks, for example, accept a matrícula consular card as ID to open an account.

The Pikes Peak Library District gets most of its budget from taxes levied on property in El Paso County except Manitou Springs and Widefield. It has 12 branches. Sand Creek is at 1821 S. Academy Blvd.

The Mobile Consulate event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

García-Burgos said Schultheis’ concerns were the first time she remembers anyone criticizing the agency’s use of a public building. The consulate issued a statement Friday that did not name Schultheis but responded to his concerns.

“It is worth highlighting that the Mobile Consulates provide services and information to Mexican nationals as well as U.S. citizens, such as visas and the temporary importation of vehicles, to name a few,” the statement said.

The consulate said cooperation between consular offices and government agencies is common and allowed under treaties between the nations.