Bill Ritter and Congressman Bob Beauprez engaged in a bitter exchange over illegal immigration Tuesday, with Beauprez claiming Ritter had allowed "alien" felons to roam the streets of Denver when he was district attorney and an angry Ritter accusing Beauprez of trying to "demagogue" the issue.

The debate, held at KMGH-TV Denver's 7, brought both contenders for governor together just five weeks before the Nov. 7 election.

Beauprez, who has been trailing Ritter in the polls, went on the attack, accusing Ritter of plea-bargaining with legal and illegal immigrants who should have been deported.

"Bill's job was to administer justice," Beauprez said. "He systematically plea-bargained to put them right back on the street."

Ritter accused Beauprez of doing nothing to solve the immigration problem during his time in Congress. He said Beauprez had distorted a handful of cases out of thousands handled by his office.

"The next governor of the state of Colorado ought to have more than a cocktail party familiarity with the criminal justice system," Ritter said.

He then confronted Beauprez over his vote in Congress to allow banks to accept "matricula consular" cards issued by the Mexican government. Many banks allow illegal immigrants to use the cards to open accounts, including Heritage Bank, which was founded by Beauprez.

Beauprez said he voted for the bill as part of the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. He criticized Ritter for supporting in-state tuition "for people here illegally."

Colorado is one of the states that prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving in-state tuition.

Ritter said he would support allowing the children of illegal immigrants to have in-state tuition, saying it was cruel to deny education to kids who spoke English and had grown up in this country.

Although immigration sparked the most bitter exchange, the two men also sparred over other issues.

Ritter endorsed the ballot measure that will mandate a hike in the minimum wage. Beauprez said he opposes the measure, which would raise the minimum wage to $6.85 per hour, because it would interfere with "the marketplace."

Ritter tartly noted that Beauprez had enjoyed several wage hikes during his years in Congress.