Chaffetz addresses immigration at Holladay town hall meeting

Updated: 8/21 10:49 pm | Published: 8/21 10:38 pm
Reported by: Cristina Rendon

HOLLADAY, Utah (ABC 4 Utah) - Congressman Jason Chaffetz addressed members of the community on Wednesday about his stance on immigration reform among other topics at a town hall meeting.

Immigration reform was the first issue to be asked about by members of the audience at Holladay City Hall.

"I want to fix legal immigration," Chaffetz said to the audience.

Chaffetz told ABC 4 Utah Reporter Cristina Rendon the government must first deal with legal immigration in order to solve the problem of illegal immigration. He does not fully support the bi-partisan immigration bill passed by the Senate in June.

"I reject the Senate bill," he said. "It's unconstitutional. I wouldn't vote for it, but there are five bills in the house that we have supported."

The bi-partisan immigration bill Chaffetz disagrees with is a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

"There should be a pathway to citizenship, not a special pathway and not no pathway, but there has to be a legal lawful way to go through this process that works and right now it doesn't," Chaffetz said.

The other parts of the bill include the following:
- an increase in border security
- a cap raise on high-skilled visas
- an increase in guest workers per year
- changes to the family visa program
- requirements for employees to verify a worker's status

Tony Yapias, a Latino community activist, said it is encouraging to see Chaffetz talk about the issues, even if he is not fully in support of the current bi-partisan immigration bill. He believes progress is being made and the issue is not being ignored.

Chaffetz said he wants to take a step by step approach to immigration reform when the House resumes in Washington on September 9.

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