Rocky article about Hispanic GOP state chair's objection to Schultheis omitted legislator's past controversies

Summary: Reporting March 4 on the objection of Gil Cisneros, chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Colorado, to state Sen. Dave Schultheis' bid for a Republican National Committee post, the Rocky Mountain News failed to mention Schultheis' past controversies related to Colorado's Hispanic community. As the News had reported previously, Schultheis questioned the immigration status of the family of three Hispanic children who died in a 2006 Weld County auto crash; all were U.S. citizens.

A March 4 Rocky Mountain News article reported Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Colorado chairman Gil Cisneros' objection to state Sen. Dave Schultheis' (R-Colorado Springs) bid for a Republican National Committee position, including Cisneros' comment that Schultheis was "an enemy of our community." However, the article by Lynn Bartels omitted Schultheis' past controversies regarding the Hispanic community in Colorado, including his "questioning the immigration status" of the family of Hispanic car accident victims in Weld County, all of whom were U.S. citizens, as Colorado Media Matters has noted.

The News also failed to report Schultheis' recent call for church leaders to withdraw a "pledge of respect" that asked Colorado lawmakers to "take leadership in changing the tone of the discourse on immigration issues," as Colorado Media Matters pointed out.

According to the News' March 4 article, "The leader of a statewide Hispanic Republican group won't back Sen. Dave Schultheis' bid for a GOP post, telling the Colorado Springs lawmaker: 'You've gone out of your way to be an enemy of our community.' " The article continued:

Gil Cisneros, chairman of the Colorado chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, will oppose Schultheis' effort to be elected in May as national committeeman.

"I will not support you and I asked my membership not to support you," Cisneros said Monday in an e-mail to the lawmaker. "I consider you to be as mean-spirited as Tom Tancredo, or possibly even worse, if that is possible."

Both Schultheis and Tancredo, a Littleton congressman, have made illegal immigration the cornerstone issue of their careers.

Despite previously reporting on a controversial October 4, 2006, email Schultheis sent to The Greeley Tribune "questioning the immigration status" of Hispanic car accident victims in Weld County, the News on March 4 made no mention of the controversy it created.

The News reported on October 10, 2006, that "[a] lawmaker's e-mail to the Greeley newspaper questioning the immigration status of the family of three children killed in a car accident has caused deep divisions in this northern Colorado farm community." According to the News, the October 2, 2006, crash involved 17-year-old Tania Bustillos, the driver; her 15-year-old brother Enrique, who died that evening; her 12-year-old brother Miguel, who died the following day; and her 3-month-old daughter, Destiny Musquiz, who was taken off life support on October 4, 2006.

The News article also noted that, on October 4, 2006, "a reporter for the Greeley Tribune received an e-mail from state Rep. Dave Schultheis" in which he asked several questions regarding the immigration status of the victims:

"Was the driver properly licensed? Was the vehicle properly registered and insured? Was this person the child of parents in the U.S. illegally? Or was she here illegally?" Schultheis wrote.

"Why is it that the investigative reports we read in the papers and see on TV do not point out the fact that these accidents and the resulting cost to taxpayers (hospitalization, etc.) are a direct result of our lax immigration policies and enforcement?" he asked.

Later in the article, the News noted that "Schultheis said he did not know that the fatal accident had just happened and that one of the family members had just been taken off life support. He blamed the Tribune for publishing what he said was a question from one of his constituents at an inopportune time."

On October 20, 2006, the News published an open letter from the Bustillos family in which they avowed their legal residency status as well as that of their daughter and deceased sons. The letter also chastised Schultheis for bringing the family's healing process "to an abrupt halt" with his questions:

To answer your questions, yes -- the car was properly registered and insured. Tania followed the required State of Colorado protocol to obtain a driving permit. ALL THE CHILDREN INVOLVED IN THIS ACCIDENT ARE AMERICAN CITIZENS with the same rights as you and your constituent (if the inquiring person is an American citizen). Their mother, Grasiela, is also an AMERICAN CITIZEN. Their father is a LEGAL RESIDENT.

The letter also asked Schultheis, "Is it your position that all Latinos should be assumed 'illegal aliens' unless proven otherwise?"

A News article published on the same day as the letter reported that Schultheis "did not respond ... to four telephone messages and an e-mail seeking response" to the Bustillos letter. Moreover, Cara DeGette of the online political daily news website Colorado Confidential noted in a November 25, 2006, blog entry about Schultheis that the Bustillos family had "asked for a formal apology from the lawmaker, which they never received."

The March 4 News article also neglected to note Schultheis' recent criticism of Colorado church leaders' request that he and other lawmakers pledge to engage in respectful discourse about immigration issues. As the Tribune reported, Schultheis "called on church leaders to withdraw their 'pledge of respect' request on immigration issues, dubbing it 'phony.' " The Tribune further reported:

Sen. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, issued a statement Monday saying "the purpose of this so-called pledge is to create a stigma on legislators who attempt to convey the truth about the major problems being created as a result of the invasion of those entering this country illegally." The pledge, asking for a respectful tone of discussion on immigration issues, in effect sanctions "the presence of those who break federal law by crossing our borders illegally and taking jobs away from Americans."

Colorado Media Matters has documented Schultheis' use of the media to dispense falsehoods about immigration reform.

—C.H.