DENVER – Colorado state Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock, renewed his demand that Mexico's consul general in Denver apologize for criticizing Colorado's laws, and the senator invited the Mexican official to meet and clear the air over immigration issues. Wiens, who has been demanding greater accountability from Mexico's government for illegal immigration, wrote Consul General Juan Marcos Gutierrez-Gonzalez Tuesday after he failed in a previous letter to Wiens to respond to Wiens' earlier call for an apology. A copy of Wiens' latest letter is attached.

In the letter, Wiens also assailed another Mexican government official's recent threat to sue the U.S. if our National Guard detains Mexican nationals who cross the border illegally.

"Comments by your government about wishing to work with the United States to resolve the illegal immigration issue between the two nations cannot possibly be sincere," Wiens wrote. "Your country should be offering to work with the U.S. and with our National Guard, not threatening to sue us."

Wiens also stated, "Again Mr. Gutierrez, you owe the people of Colorado, the General Assembly, and Colorado's law enforcement community an immediate and sincere apology."

Gutierrez set off the controversy earlier this month when he criticized the Colorado General Assembly for enacting Wiens' Senate Bill 90, which permits state and local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal authorities in detaining illegal immigrants. Wiens first pressed his demand for an apology from Gutierrez at that time, admonishing the foreign official for showing disrespect for U.S. policy and the American democratic process.

"I believe if we sit down and address these issues face-to-face, you will realize the bill that I carried into law is not about racial profiling, as you alleged," Wiens wrote. "It is about making sure that our law officers are not releasing potentially dangerous illegal aliens back onto our streets. You will agree that is something neither of our countries should be expected to tolerate."

Wiens offered to meet with the media present or in private, at Gutierrez's office or at the Capitol.