Post article on Voorhis trial repeated falsehoods about its background

Summary: A Denver Post article by Karen E. Crummy reporting on the trial of federal immigration agent Cory Voorhis repeated debunked claims and misinformation regarding plea bargains offered by the office of now-Gov. Bill Ritter (D) when he was Denver district attorney. In particular, the article falsely claimed that "illegal immigrants were regularly pleaded out" to state offenses that were "non-deportable" -- however, aliens unlawfully present in the United States are always subject to deportation under federal law.

Reporting on the trial of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Cory Voorhis, an April 2 article in The Denver Post repeated misinformation about the agricultural trespass plea deals offered by the office of then-Denver district attorney, now-Gov. Bill Ritter (D). The article by Karen E. Crummy repeated the debunked claim that "illegal immigrants were regularly pleaded out by Ritter's office from the crimes they actually committed -- which could lead to deportation -- to a fictional charge of agricultural trespass -- a non-deportable offense." However, as Colorado Media Matters has noted repeatedly, while the agricultural trespass plea bargains Ritter's office approved might have helped legal immigrants avoid deportation, illegal immigrants are subject to deportation by federal officials regardless of any state or local pleas to which they agree, according to U.S. law.

The Post article further parenthetically noted, "Records show Denver defendants, including illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens, were given this plea 152 times from 1998 through 2004," without mentioning that other Colorado judicial districts also offered the agricultural trespass plea bargain during the same period, notably Arapahoe County, which was second to Denver in its use of the plea, according to an October 12, 2006, Rocky Mountain News article.

Voorhis was charged in October 2007 with misusing his access to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database to get information later used by 2006 Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez's campaign in an ad against Ritter.

The April 2 Post article reported, "Federal immigration agent Cory Voorhis sat at the defense table in federal court Tuesday, but opening statements by his lawyer indicated that the legal team would try to put the actions of Gov. Bill Ritter and the city of Denver on trial." The article continued:

Bill Taylor, attorney for the special agent, said his client was "shocked, angered, and yes, bewildered" when he read statements by Ritter, then a candidate for governor, in an August 2006 newspaper article saying that when he was Denver district attorney, his office had always been tough on illegal immigration.

Voorhis' experience as an immigration agent, and as someone who worked at the Denver County Jail for three years, was that illegal immigrants were regularly pleaded out by Ritter's office from the crimes they actually committed -- which could lead to deportation -- to a fictional charge of agricultural trespass -- a non-deportable offense. (Records show Denver defendants, including illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens, were given this plea 152 times from 1998 through 2004).

As Colorado Media Matters has pointed out, past articles by Crummy in the Post similarly have reported the claim that plea bargains approved by Ritter's office "prevented the deportation of illegal and legal immigrants charged with drug, assault and other crimes."

In fact, Ritter's campaign repeatedly clarified before the November 7, 2006, election that aliens unlawfully present in the United States are always subject to deportation under federal law. Moreover, the News reported on June 11, 2006, that "unlawful presence" in the United States is in and of itself a deportable offense, noting, "The most common charge against those caught without authorization in the U.S. is 'unlawful presence,' a civil offense. The penalty is removal, and an immigrant can be detained in the meantime."

In addition, the Post noted the number of agricultural trespass plea bargains offered in Denver "from 1998 through 2004" without mentioning that other judicial districts in Colorado reportedly also used the felony plea, as Colorado Media Matters has noted. In fact, the October 12, 2006, News article reported that the newspaper "reviewed the use of the trespassing charge statewide from 1998 to 2006. In all, 483 cases were sentenced under the charge in 38 judicial jurisdictions." The article further noted, "Arapahoe County followed Denver in the use of the plea, with 71 cases since 1998. The use of the charge in the county rose to 21 cases last year and 20 so far this year."

In addition to reporting inaccurately that the agricultural trespass plea is a "non-deportable offense" for illegal immigrants, past Post articles by Crummy have failed to note that the plea deals included legal as well as illegal immigrants and have omitted that while the Denver district attorney's office "also used [the database] to obtain the same information" that Voorhis did, a private investigator reportedly hired by the Republican-backed Trailhead Group in 2006 said he asked a friend to access the NCIC.

—C.H.