A Republican effort to combat illegal immigration was killed in a Senate committee Monday.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 9, sponsored by Republican Sen. Dave Schultheis, of Colorado Springs, would have given voters a chance to amend the constitution to prevent cities, counties and municipalities from adopting policies that limit the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

The resolution would also require that for every contact that public entities have with individuals whose immigration status raises suspicions, there needs to be a reasonable attempt to determine the person’s status.  The person is then required to be transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement if that person is found to be illegally in the U.S.

“Nearly 15 bills have been offered by members of the House and Senate to deal with illegal immigration,” said Schultheis.  “Unfortunately, the Democrats have failed to put tough laws in statute and they refuse to give the citizens to right to vote on it.”

During the hearing, a witness testified that illegal immigrants move to Colorado, and he gave firsthand accounts of people renting out their work permits to illegal aliens. He said nobody has been willing to stop this illegal trade.

“If we spend $8,000 per child to educate them, and there are over 30,000 illegal immigrants or children of illegal immigrants in our school system, we could be saving over $240 million dollars a year,” said Schultheis.