Letter: Standing up for our immigrant community
Our valley has been home to an immigrant population for decades. Most traveled here to work and participate in the significant development that has taken place over the past 40 years. These residents worked in many businesses that were responsible for creating our wonderful valley. Today, about a third of the families in the county are immigrants and are an important contributor to what makes this a very special place to live.
Frankly, this is not a comfortable time for this community. Threats of mass deportations in 2025 have stoked fear among law-abiding families. Many of these families have one or more members who are not documented.
If the national average holds, we have over a thousand undocumented residents, most of whom have been an integral part of the valley for many years. Because of the fear of being identified and deported, some of these residents do not seek necessary medical care for themselves or their children. Some are reluctant to call law enforcement for help or to report a crime. This is a terrible situation for our community.
When faced with some similar deportation proposals in 2018, our local governments unanimously agreed on a policy that was designed to calm some of the fears facing our immigrant residents. Here is an excerpt from this policy:
“We want to make this clear: Local law enforcement leaders from incorporated municipalities in Vail, Eagle and Avon, along with the Eagle County Sheriff, are committed to providing services and assistance for everyone living in our communities. All residents of these municipalities and of Eagle County Sheriff service areas are members of our community and will continue to have access to government services, including law enforcement assistance and justice, regardless of immigration status.
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Partnerships and alliances, built up over time between community members and local law enforcement, are invaluable. Your local law enforcement leaders support procedures which encourage all residents to seek assistance, call for medical help, report suspicious circumstances, report criminal activities and otherwise work together to share information which is in the best interest of our community’s safety.
The values of the Town of Vail, Town of Eagle, Town of Avon and the Eagle County Sheriff will not be altered by some people’s perceptions which suggest that local law enforcement agencies should focus on immigration status. Municipal police officers and sheriff deputies will not engage in detaining and questioning anyone living in our community based solely on presumed immigration status, because immigration enforcement is strictly a federal responsibility.”
We are proud of our local governments for expressing and adopting this policy in 2018. And proud of their wisdom in recognizing the debilitating consequences of not abiding by this policy would have on our tight-knit community. We urge them to continue to support our immigrants and live up to this policy in the coming years.
We just celebrated one of our most important holidays, Thanksgiving, which was a celebration of our country’s first immigrants. We are now in the midst of the Christmas holiday season when our towns fill up with happy families, their extended families, and tourists from around the world. Let’s remember that it’s not a trouble-free time for many of our friends here in the valley. They need and deserve our respect and support.
Kelly and Sam Bronfman
Linn Brooks
Dick Cleveland
Amy and Steve Coyer
Ron Davis
Susan and Harry Frampton
George Gregory
Shelly and Chris Jarnot
Cheryl and Bill Jensen
Alexia Jurschak
Sarah and Peter Millett
Chuppa Nelson
Sue Nikolai and Markian Feduschak
Chris Romer
Toby Seay
Beth Slifer
Mark Smith
Gary Woodworth
