Reaction from residents after Mesa County Commissioners joined lawsuit
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - On Tuesday, we reported Mesa County Commissioners joined a lawsuit against the State of Colorado for what they claim are damages based on the state’s sanctuary status. Now, some Grand Junction residents are sounding the alarm about what they feel is an unnecessary and political move.
“There is some concern with the Mesa County Commissioners joining that lawsuit because it seems frivolous for us around here,” said Scott Beilfuss. He’s a current City Council member and former Co-Chair for the Mesa County Democrats. He says a lot of this is political theater. “There is not really any background information about why they’re joining that lawsuit, and it seems to be 100 percent political,” Beilfuss said.
Mesa County Commissioners already listed the county as a non-sanctuary city back in February. Now, commissioners are saying Colorado is opening their arms and welcoming illegal immigrants. But, Beilfuss feels differently. “Texas Governor Greg Abbott was the person who bussed 40,000 migrants to Denver, so if they want to sue anyone it should be him in my opinion” Scott said.
Tom Acker, who is running to unseat current county commissioner Cody Davis, said, “This suit has no legal baring on the situation, it’s grandstanding and taking advantage of a sad situation in the state of Colorado that responsible community leaders would be trying to resolve instead of exacerbate.”
In a response to today’s story, a representative from Mesa County said to watch the county commissioners meeting that happened on Tuesday which lays out the commissioners plans for the lawsuit. During that meeting, Commissioner Rowland said, “We support the rule of law and it’s incomprehensible to me that the state would pass laws that would prohibit our law enforcement officers from following the law.”
We did hear back from a representative in Montrose who said the county has no plans to join the lawsuit.
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