Here's an article on the debate, read Jacob's very last comment to Cannon, it's great!


Cannon vs. Jacob: No love lost
District 3 debate: Allegations of racist views on one side, cries of complacency on the other for Republican hopefuls
By Glen Warchol
The Salt Lake Tribune



OREM - In an often-heated debate Saturday, it quickly became apparent that the race for Utah's 3rd Congressional District seat pivots on one issue: immigration.
Just as immigration reform has become explosive nationally, the clash between Republican primary opponents John Jacob and Chris Cannon showed the issue could become rancorous and divisive in Utah, the reddest of red states.
The candidates, who will meet in a June 27 primary that likely will determine who will represent the district in Congress, agreed on virtually every other issue raised, including battling rising health care costs (deregulation), federal involvement in public education (less or none) and the plague of methamphetamine addiction (cut off the supply from Mexico).
Even their positions on immigration reform, though passionate, are not always easy to tell apart. Both want secure borders. Both say they stand steadfast against illegal immigration. And both stand for the rule of law.
Five-term incumbent Cannon says illegal immigration is "a cancer eating at the very core of the fiber of our country." But any scheme to deport the 12 million undocumented workers in the country, he says, is unrealistic, and would burden businesses unfairly.
Jacob, an Eagle Mountain businessman, argued the approach of Washington on immigration for decades has been ineffective and wrongheaded, particularly the emphasis that U.S. economic prosperity is dependent on immigrant labor. Creating an underclass of low-paid undocumented workers because it supports economic growth is just plain greed, he says.
The kinds of jobs undocumented workers now hold would be filled by teens, citizens and legal immigrants if a fair wage were paid, he said.
"We want to raise wages in Utah and bring more people to Utah from other states," Jacob said.
As far as sending the country's estimated 12 million undocumented workers back to their homelands, Jacob says it is feasible - over time.
"If you don't think it can be done - Mexico did it. They got rid of 12 million people," he said to applause


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from the audience in the student center at Utah Valley State College.
Cannon lamented that much of the immigration debate is driven by xenophobia.
"There are a lot of people who are angry and fearful, and that's not the best of America. . . . I don't think xenophobia is a Republican virtue."
Though Cannon did not directly accuse Jacob of racism, he said many of the people around the country who support his opponent's view are.
"We need to solve this without platitudes," he said. "Quit hiding behind xenophobia and make a proposal [on immigration reform]."
After the debate, Jacob said the allegations of racism are unfair.
"Why is racism and xenophobia part of it when we are talking about the rule of law?" he asked.
In an interview after the debate, Cannon said simplistic rhetoric on amnesty and deportation gets in the way of progress on reform.
"I don't want those issues to stop us from coming up with a solution," he said. "Let's solve the problem fundamentally. If [undocumented workers] have to leave the country to do that, then so be it."
The heat the immigration issue generates was obvious when Cannon chided Jacob for being naive in his "throw the bums out" solution.
"It's a complicated world, John," Cannon said.
"When we talk about throwing the bums out," Jacob replied, "right now we are just talking about one bum."