A Colorado lawmaker Thursday touted his proposal to bypass federal law and allow illegal immigrants to work legally in the state, while a Republican legislator called the idea “unconstitutional on its face.”

Bill sponsor state Rep. Dan Pabon, a Denver Democrat, squared off against state Rep. Cole Wist, a Republican from Arapahoe County, on “The Laura Ingraham Show.”

Under Pabon’s bill, anyone who has paid state taxes for at least two years and has not been convicted of a felony over the previous three years would be eligible for a “purple card.” Pabon argued that it would protect the state’s workforce.

“They may not have fully immigration documented papers, but that doesn’t impair their ability to work,” he said.

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Pabon said Colorado needs to act because Congress will not.

“These are able-bodied workers who have been working in our economy for years,” he said. “We’re talking about dish washers and landscapers and even professionals who’ve relied on Congress and the White House to work, and now that’s being taken away overnight. That’s not right to those families, and frankly to our own economic security in Colorado.”

Wist, however, said the law would have no chance of surviving a legal challenge.

“This law is unconstitutional on its face,” he said. “Either you believe in the Constitution, or you don’t. Whether you believe in the sovereignty of our borders, or you don’t. Either you believe in the rule of law, or you don’t.”

Wist noted that Congress has established legal immigration’s rules and dictates which foreigners can work legally and which cannot. Neither Colorado nor any other state can supersede those rules, he said.

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The legislator pointed to a 2012 Supreme Court ruling striking down part of an Arizona law that sought to enhance penalties on illegal immigrants who worked there. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority that the federal government has “broad, undoubted power over the subject of immigration” and that a state could not circumvent them.

“The bottom line here is the federal government has acted here,” Wist said. “State law on this particular topic is expressly pre-empted and unconstitutional.”

Pabon counted that the Tenth Amendment protects states’ right. “There’s no prohibition in the Constitution to allow state-based work programs,” he said. “So Colorado has a history of standing up to the federal government.”

But Wist said Pabon is misreading the Tenth Amendment, which gives states primacy in matters not specifically delegated to the federal government. Immigration is one of those specific areas, he noted.

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“I appreciate the Democrats’ newfound love for the Tenth Amendment, but when you look at Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, it says Congress — Congress — has the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization,” he said.

Wist said that right or wrong, it is up to Congress to grant amnesty or not.

“There’s a right way to do this,” he said. “The federal government has set out the procedure and has promulgated the forms that employers need to follow. But, you know, this is a complete misuse of the Tenth Amendment.”

PoliZette senior writer Brendan Kirby can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.